30 Warm Fuzzies
by ZeldaAddict42
Summary: Zoro and Chopper being all brotherly and cute is one of my favorite things, so I claimed them for Set 3 of 30 Pieces. The overall rating may change, depending upon content, but I don't expect there will be more than some mild swearing and violence.
1. The Gift That Keeps on Giving, K

**Title:** The Gift That Keeps on Giving  
**Theme:** Set #03, #8 Surprise  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 1310  
**Rating:** G  
**Warnings:** Sap, fluff, and excessive sweetness!  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.

Chopper was awake before sunrise on his birthday, far too excited to sleep late.

For most of his life, his birthday hadn't been terribly meaningful. At first, he had been all alone and hadn't even been aware of the concept of celebrating the day one was born. He hadn't spent long enough with Doctor for it to be relevant, and Doctorine didn't stand for such foolishness as frivolous celebration. _Now_, though...

He knew that Sanji had planned a special cake and meal and many of the others had promised gifts.

Mindful that not all his nakama were morning people, Chopper snuck out on deck.

He was given congratulatory wishes by each crew mate as they appeared on deck for the day. Everyone, that is, except Zoro, whom he didn't see at all until breakfast.

The swordsman entered with Nami, discussing something in hushed tones.

"Good morning, Zoro!" Chopper greeted, grinning broadly.

"Hey, Chopper," Zoro returned absently, continuing to follow the navigator across the room.

Chopper knew he shouldn't take it personally, but it stung a little to be so quickly dismissed. Zoro was almost always willing to indulge the doctor, and Chopper _knew _the swordsman knew this particular day's significance. He inched closer to the pair, curious about what subject could be so engrossing.

"So?" Zoro was asking. "Can I?"

"I'll look and see if I have anything you can use, but I'm not promising anything."

"Thank you," Zoro said sincerely. "I really appreciate it." He turned to walk to the table and jumped slightly when he saw how close Chopper was.

"What are you guys talking about?" Chopper inquired. "Can I help somehow?"

"No!" Zoro blurted in a panicked tone. When he spoke again, he was much calmer. "I mean, don't worry about it, Chopper. I, uh, need to go talk to Usopp."

Without further ado, he rushed to the other side of the room, leaving behind a very confused reindeer. Chopper looked up at Nami, question clear on his face: "What was _that_ all about?"

"Sorry, Chopper." The corners of her mouth were quirked upward in a sly smile. "It's kind of a secret."

Chopper looked across the room to see Zoro gesturing rather more than usual as he conversed with Usopp, who was smiling. Then, Zoro handed him a piece of paper. Usopp started to read what was written on it and laughed until a glare from Zoro silenced _that_. Usopp said something, expression suddenly solemn, and tucked the paper in the bib pocket of his overalls.

All through the meal, Chopper tried to catch Zoro's eye, but the swordsman never looked at him unless he was looking somewhere else. It was very frustrating! He would have investigated more, but Luffy dragged him out on deck to fish for lunch.

* * *

There hadn't been so much as a nibble for quite some time, and Chopper found his gaze wandering to the spot on the lawn deck where Zoro was currently napping. Usopp was sitting to his left, sharing some story or other. Normally, Chopper would be listening intently, but he had other things on his mind. Luffy was on his right, shooting off random questions and interjecting exclamations.

Since Zoro didn't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon, Chopper was about to try and pick up Usopp's story halfway when Nami walked out on deck with a fistful of rolled parchment. She woke Zoro up with a none to gentle kick to the ribs and handed him the roll. Zoro stood, walked to one of the doors to the men's quarters, and cleared his throat loudly. He waited a moment, possibly expecting some kind of response, then cleared his throat again.

"Oi, Usopp!" he finally called.

"Eh?" Usopp paused mid sentence and looked over at Zoro. The swordsman waved the roll of parchment. "I just remembered that I have an important project to finish!" The sniper jumped to his feet and hurried through the door after Zoro.

"Hey, Chopper, look! You've got a bite!" Suddenly Chopper no longer had time to ponder Zoro's mysterious project.

* * *

Zoro and Usopp reappeared at lunch, then Zoro went up to the crow's nest to train and Usopp disappeared to his factory again. Chopper didn't see either man again until his birthday dinner. Usopp was the last to enter the dining room, carrying two wrapped boxes. He handed the smaller of the boxes to Zoro, who tucked it in his haramaki instead of placing it with the other gifts.

Dinner was amazing, as was the delicious cake. One by one, the crew presented their gifts. Luffy gave him a board game they had looked at in a shop on the last island. Sanji had made him a box of special chocolates flavored with berries and herbs. Nami presented him with some medical ingredients she had insisted were "too expensive" when he'd asked for them a few weeks ago. Usopp gave him a book he had hand written and illustrated about the adventures of a superhero reindeer. Robin also gifted him with a book--hers a tome of medical oddities. Brook performed a birthday song on his violin and asked if Chopper had any requests. He didn't know very many songs, so he asked for "Bink's Sake," and they all sang along. Franky had built a cotton candy machine. They cranked it up for the party, but they all agreed, despite protests from the captain, that they should use it on special occasions only. Zoro was the only one left, and everyone turned to look at him.

"I'd like to give you my gift in private," Zoro mumbled, looking slightly embarrassed. "If that's okay." Nami and Usopp smiled knowingly, whispering what they knew to those next to them, who passed the information on in turn.

"Sure." Chopper led Zoro to the infirmary.

"Here." Zoro pressed the gift Chopper had seen before into his hooves. "It's not fancy or anything, but I don't exactly have a lot of money that Nami hasn't already laid claim to."

Chopper tore off the wrapping to reveal a small booklet of uniformly cut rectangles of parchment stapled together. When he looked at the back, Chopper could tell the pieces had been cut from one of Nami's scrap pieces that was ink blotted and smudged. She usually reused them, if at all possible, because parchment was expensive, but it appeared she had let Zoro have this one. The front piece read, "For Use of Chopper Only." He recognized Usopp's flowing script.

"I would have written them myself, but Usopp writes neater than I do," Zoro explained, "and he can draw."

As Chopper flipped to the next page, he realized what the booklet was. They were coupons! The first read, "Good for Zoro's participation in one game." There were several copies. Various small, game related doodles made a border around the edge. The rest were similar sorts of things, and Chopper laughed when he came across, "Zoro will _not_ remove his bandages for the length of time indicated here," followed by a blank. Again, this one had several copies, and each had a little picture of a sulky, bandaged Zoro. Wonder of wonders, the last five slips were left blank, to be filled in as he chose!

"These are awesome, Zoro! Thanks!"

"I'm glad you like them." Zoro smiled fondly at him and turned to leave.

"Zoro, wait!" Chopper scrambled over to his desk and searched until he found a pencil. He scribbled something on a blank coupon, tore it out, and handed it to Zoro. It read simply, "One hug." Zoro rolled his eyes, but complied.

"Happy birthday, little guy."

It was, Chopper thought. It really, really was!


	2. Arguing Semantics, T

**Title:** Arguing Semantics  
**Theme:** Set #03, #27 Betrayal  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 1432  
**Rating:** T/PG-13 (Just to be safe...)  
**Warnings:** Some violence, mild language, and semi-graphic injury depiction.  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.

Zoro dodged backward down the beach, blocking a downward blow of his opponent's club inches from his face. This gave him an excellent view of the wickedly prepared weapon. The hardwood club had been dipped in hot tar and then rolled through a mixture of broken glass, nails, and apparently whatever else had struck this pirate's fancy. The giant of a man grinned sadistically, flexing his brawny arms and pressing Zoro down into the sand before stepping back again.

Zoro didn't regret choosing to challenge this particular member of the crew they were currently fighting, however. Luffy was occupied with the other captain, an obnoxious braggart with some kind of ridiculous devil fruit power--Zoro couldn't even remember what it was-- and Franky was pinned down in an artillery stand-off with several gunners. While Zoro knew the rest of the crew could all hold their own against most opponents, with Luffy and Franky out of the picture, he was best suited to take down this kind of brute force bruiser.

Zoro took a moment to scan the beach, attempting to locate the rest of the crew. Sanji and Brook were both working their way through a small group of pirates, movements swift and sure. He could faintly hear Robin calling her attacks around a rocky outcropping and see low lying thunderheads that could only be the work of Nami and her climatact. Usopp and Chopper had remained aboard the Sunny to man the cannons and protect the ship.

Zoro's opponent had pushed him up the shore, away from the wet, packed sand near the surf and into the trickier footing of soft, dry dunes. Zoro felt his right foot sliding and threw himself to the side, catching a glancing blow to the ribs. The head of the club tore away a piece of his shirt and a section of skin beneath. Not expecting the last moment dodge, Zoro's opponent overbalanced forward. Zoro took full advantage of the situation to end the fight quickly.

He debated going to check on the girls, but found himself unexpectedly short of breath and a little light-headed. His wound was oozing blood pretty steadily and Chopper would probably get after him if he didn't get it cleaned properly. It looked like the others were finishing up the rest of the fight anyway, so Zoro made his way back toward the Thousand Sunny.

* * *

When Zoro walked into the infirmary, Chopper was patching up a cheerfully victorious Luffy. Their captain had difficulty sitting still at the best of times, so poor Chopper had his hooves full with Luffy still riding the adrenaline high from his battle.

"Oi, Chopper, I'll go ahead and get started on cleaning this myself, okay?" He gestured at his ribs. There was a roughly palm sized area that currently bore a strong resemblance to raw hamburger.

"Ah!" Chopper's eyes widened when he glanced over at the swordsman. "What in the world did _that?_"

"A club," Zoro grunted as reached for one of the washcloths Chopper had set out. "It had all sorts of junk stuck on it."

"Be sure to use plenty of antiseptic," Chopper ordered, turning his focus back to Luffy. "Was any of that 'junk' metal?"

"Some. Why?" Zoro dabbed gingerly at the raw abrasion.

"I'll need to give you a tetanus booster."

"Do you really _have_ to?" Zoro was by no means _afraid_ of shots, but that didn't mean he had to _like_ them...

"Would you rather get lockjaw?"

"No, I guess not..."

Chopper finished up with Luffy and then hurried over to Zoro. He was about to give Zoro's wound a closer look when Sanji ushered in a pale Robin, holding a bloody handkerchief to a gash on one arm.

"I hate to trouble you, doctor, but I believe this may require stitches." Robin smiled ruefully.

"I'll be fine," Zoro insisted when Chopper looked torn. "Throw a few bandages on me real quick and go help Robin." Moments later, Chopper had Zoro's torso tightly wrapped in several layers of cloth bandages and had given him a quick shot in the arm. The swordsman rose to leave but felt a tug on his pant leg. When he turned, a slip of parchment was placed in his hand.

Zoro's mood plummeted as he read, "Zoro will _not_ remove his bandages for the length of time indicated here: one week."

* * *

Zoro decided to forgo weight training that afternoon, since it would probably start his side bleeding again, and Chopper had already worked hard enough today! His wound ached with every breath, but he could handle a little pain. He decided to meditate instead, but he found himself unable to slip into his usual deep breathing. It must be the tight bandages.

He ran the fingertips of his left hand over his chest-wrappings, glancing over at the coupon he kept next to him as a reminder. He pictured the disappointed look he would surely receive if he were to break the promise implied by the slip of paper. He picked the coupon up and read the text again.

Wait a minute...

He'd promised not to _remove_ his bandages, but what about _loosening_ them? That wasn't exactly the same thing, right? The bandages would still be on his body, wouldn't they?

Almost before he consciously thought of it, his right hand was seeking the end of the outer wrapping.

"_Zoro!_" He froze and looked guiltily over at Chopper. Sure enough, there was that disappointed look, just as he'd imagined it. "It hasn't even been a _whole day!_"

"I wasn't going to take them off, Chopper, I swear!" Zoro hated that he was making excuses, but he hated disappointing his friend even more. "It's just that I'm having trouble taking a deep breath and I thought maybe I could just loosen them a bit, you know?" He paused to take a breath and winced. Chopper's eyes narrowed.

"Come with me." Chopper's tone brooked no argument and damn if he couldn't be scary when he wanted! Zoro obediently followed the doctor to the infirmary.

Chopper gestured for him to take a seat on the bed and began unwrapping the bandages. When the wound was exposed, he changed to heavy point, slipped a glove on one hand, and handed another to Zoro. The swordsman raised an eyebrow in question, but Chopper was already gently probing the injury. Zoro gave a sharp hiss at the same time Chopper let out an "Aha!"

"Put that glove on--I want to show you something." Zoro complied and Chopper guided his fingers to the area his own had occupied moments before. "Feel that?" When Zoro applied gentle pressure on the spot, he felt an almost crackly sensation under the surface.

"Huh," Zoro mused. "Broken rib, right? I didn't think he hit me that hard."

"I should have found that in your initial examination," Chopper admitted guiltily. "I know Robin needed my attention, but that was no excuse for not being thorough..."

"It's just as much my fault," Zoro insisted, hoping to raise the doctor's spirits. "I was short of breath after the fight and just wrote it off to being winded. I could have--no _should_ have--told you everything. You can't make a complete diagnosis if I hold back information..."

"Wrapping really won't help any." Chopper sighed. "I'll put a more localized dressing on the abrasion and give you some pain killers. I want you to promise to take them!" Zoro didn't dare protest. "I know you have a high pain tolerance, but the pain is what's restricting your breathing, and if you don't breathe properly you could end up with pneumonia!"

Chopper still seemed awfully down...

"You can have that coupon back, if you want," Zoro offered as Chopper fixed a large gauze pad in place with medical tape. "Since I wasn't keeping my end of the deal and all..."

"Keep it." Chopper shook his head and managed a small grin. "We'll say it's for this new dressing now, and I'll be watching you!"

"Yes, sir, Dr. Chopper!" Zoro gave a mock salute.

"I don't need you to cheer me up, you jerk! You're not funny!" Chopper giggled anyway, and Zoro felt better than he had all afternoon.


	3. Philosophical Differences, T

**Title:** Philosophical Differences  
**Theme:** Set #03, #13 Sacrifice  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 1026  
**Rating:** T  
**Warnings:** Mild swearing and violence. Sort of a dark theme?  
**Continuity:** Could be whenever, but I think it works nicely post Thriller Bark.  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.

Chopper blinked bleary eyes and tried to focus on his surroundings. He was tied securely to a large stone of some kind. He had also been gagged. What was happening? How did he get here?

The last thing he remembered was venturing into the jungle on this island to search for medicinal plants.

It was very difficult to collect his thoughts and his limbs felt heavy. His captors had probably used some kind of drug.

He tried to shift into heavy point, hoping to break his bindings, but nothing happened. He flinched as something cold was splashed on him. _Sea water..._

Several figures moved into his line of sight, speaking to one another in a language he didn't understand. They were clothed in animal skins and had painted their bodies in various patterns. Robin would probably find this all fascinating, but Chopper began to worry when he noticed one of them had a large knife with an intricately carved handle.

As his vision continued to clear, Chopper realized there was a small crowd of other people standing farther back. These people were not as elaborately clothed and he spotted several children among them. Grass huts were visible behind them, and Chopper realized he was in some kind of village.

He thought he heard a voice call his name in the distance and tried to make some kind of noise, but all he managed was a soft whimper.

"Chopper!" The voice was closer now and he recognized it as Zoro's. "Where are you?"

"I believe I see some lights in this direction." Robin was with him.

The crew must have gotten worried and started searching for him! He felt momentary relief until he realized his captors had heard the voices, too. Some of them were armed, and he didn't want anyone to get hurt! He struggled slightly, prompting one of the painted men to douse him with more water from a full skin slung over one shoulder.

Robin and Zoro came into view at the back of the crowd. The others backed away from them. The man with the knife called out what sounded like a question.

"Can you understand him?" Zoro asked.

"No," Robin admitted, "but it seems quite clear he wants to know what we're doing here."

"_Shit!_ Is that Chopper tied up over there?!" Zoro reached for his swords and found several spears leveled at him.

"It would appear they plan to offer our doctor as some kind of sacrifice," Robin remarked.

"Like Hell they will!" Zoro growled and took a menacing step forward. His opponents attempted to prod him backward again with their spear points, but with a single fluid movement, Zoro drew, swung, and resheathed Wadou and all the spear heads fell to the ground below.

"Wait!" A boy in his early teens stepped out of the crowd. "I speak some of your words. This creature is yours?"

"_Creature?_" Zoro looked ready to protest further, but Robin held up a silencing hand.

"Yes," she answered. "He is with us."

The man with the knife asked another question and he and the boy had a brief conversation.

"This sacrifice is very important to our people. The creature's arrival is a gift. My father, our shaman, says _you_ may stay for the ceremony, if you wish," he addressed Robin, "but the other must not come any closer to the sacred grounds. He bears the mark of the Death Spirit." He gestured at Zoro's green hair. "He brings bad fortune."

"Tell your father I'm not going anywhere unless the 'sacrifice' goes with me!" Zoro snapped. "Let him go, unless you want to see exactly what kind of 'bad fortune' I'm capable of bringing!"

The boy turned back around nervously and had another exchange with his father.

"He says you may take anything from the village that you feel is fair trade for the creature."

"Unfortunately," Robin began carefully, "we are not willing to negoti-"

"_Anything?_" Zoro interrupted to ask.

"Y-yes," the boy answered warily. "That is what he says."

Zoro stepped forward again, made sure he was making direct eye contact with the shaman, and slowly and deliberately placed one hand on the boy's shoulder and the other on his sword hilts.

The shaman had to think about it for all of a few seconds. He cut Chopper's bonds with the knife and carried the still incapacitated reindeer-human over to them.

"Is there anything you want me to tell him?" the boy asked.

"No." Zoro released his shoulder in order to take Chopper. "I think we have an understanding."

* * *

Back at the ship, Chopper approached Zoro rather timidly. The swordsman was gazing up at the night sky.

"Feeling better?" Zoro asked.

"Yes, thank you," Chopper mumbled. Finally, he blurted, "Would you really have killed that boy?"

"Probably not." Zoro sighed. "I didn't mean to frighten you. I needed to make a point. That shaman guy had the wrong idea about sacrifices, that's all."

"What do you mean?"

"They said you showing up was a gift, right? So they were just going to turn right back around and sacrifice you? That's _bullshit_, Chopper!" When the doctor looked alarmed, Zoro took several deep breaths and continued in a calmer tone. "If it doesn't take any real effort or cost you anything, it's _not_ a sacrifice. I needed him to understand..."

"My life means as much to you as his son's meant to him, right?"

"Exactly. The only life a person should ever consider offering is their own."

"However," Chopper objected, "a person's life has meaning and value to the people around them. It would be pretty selfish to take that away without consulting them first."

"True enough." Zoro couldn't help a rueful smile. "You may have to keep reminding me of that, though."

"Don't worry." Chopper settled down next to him on the deck. "I will."

They watched the stars in comfortable silence.


	4. A Day at the Beach, K

**Title:** A Day at the Beach  
**Theme:** Set #03, #20 Sand  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 937  
**Rating:** K/G  
**Warnings:** Sap, fluff, and excessive sweetness!  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.

Chopper gazed wide-eyed into the tide pool. He couldn't understand the tiny creatures currently living there, but it was fascinating to watch them scuttle about on the rocky bottom of the pool or swim through the clear water.

"Come on, Chopper!" Luffy stretched out a hand to grasp the doctor's shoulder. "Let's explore the rest of the beach!"

"Couldn't we stay here just a little longer?" Chopper turned pleading eyes on his captain. "These rock pools are really awesome!"

"You're almost as boring as Zoro..." Luffy pouted. "All he wants to do is nap in the sun!"

"Let him keep looking if he wants," Usopp suggested. "The Great Captain Usopp will explore with you! We can come back for Chopper later. Is that alright with you, Chopper?"

"Yes, that sounds fine." Chopper waved goodbye as the other two dashed down the beach, then turned his attention back to the hermit crabs, urchins, and small fish in the tide pool.

Chopper was so swept up in his viewing that he lost track of time. It was only when the incoming tide lapped at his hooves that he realized he needed to move. He headed further above the water line and scanned the sands to either side for his friends.

Finally, he spotted Luffy and Usopp. The captain was stopping at each tuft of coarse sea grass and examining it closely. The crew's sharpshooter was glancing around rather nervously and occasionally pulled down his goggles to get a better look at something further away.

"Hi, guys!" Chopper greeted them cheerily. "Are you looking for something? Can I help?"

"Thanks, Chopper! We lost-" Luffy's was cut off mid-sentence by Usopp's hand.

"Promise us you won't panic," Usopp begged.

"Why?" Chopper was beginning to feel uneasy. "What did you lose?"

Luffy had wormed his way loose by this time.

"Let's just tell him, Usopp! Maybe he can smell him!"

"Smell who?" He didn't like the direction this was going...

"Okay, here's what happened." Usopp took a deep breath. "Remember how Zoro was napping? Well, he kept ignoring us, so we thought it would be funny to bury him in the sand."

"It _was_ funny!" Luffy laughed at the recollection. "His hair looked just like the beach grass!"

"Anyways," Usopp continued after glaring Luffy back into silence, "this seagull stole Luffy's hat and we had to chase it up and down the beach. Now we can't seem to find the spot where we left Zoro, and-"

"Oh no! That's _terrible!_" Chopper wailed.

"We got my hat back." Luffy held out the hat as evidence. "See? No worries..."

"That's not what I'm worried about!" Chopper called back over his shoulder, already rushing off down the beach. Luffy and Usopp hurried to catch up with him.

Chopper shifted to walk point and sniffed at the ground in front of himself frantically. All he could smell was salt, seaweed, and dead fish--no Zoro! He tried taking a deeper breath and got sand up his nose, causing him to sneeze violently.

"There's no reason to panic, really." Usopp didn't sound like he believed himself.

"There's _every_ reason to panic!" Chopper snapped. Usopp and Luffy backed away slightly, eyes wide. It took a lot to make Chopper really angry, but when he was... "Sand is heavy, so he may not be able to get out from under where you buried him! He could suffocate! Even if he _can_ breathe, the tide is coming in and he could drown! What were you thinking?!"

Wisely, neither tried to make any excuse. There was a heavy silence, eventually broken by Luffy.

"He's really strong, Chopper, and he's been lost before." Luffy's smile was only a shadow of his usual beaming grin. "I'm sure we'll find him..."

"Who's lost?" a familiar voice asked from behind Chopper.

"_Zoro!_" Chopper shrieked joyfully, launching himself at the swordsman's chest with enough force to send them both tumbling to the ground. "You're okay!"

"Well, sure." Zoro looked at Chopper with no small amount of confusion. "Why wouldn't I be? I woke up from my nap buried under some sand. I went to rinse off in the surf, but somehow I ended up in the woods. I heard you guys talking, so I came over here." He ran his fingers through his hair briskly, sending grains of sand flying in all directions. "I _hate_ sand..."

"Usopp and Luffy couldn't remember where they buried you, and I was afraid you were stuck!" Chopper hugged Zoro fiercely. "I'm so glad you got out on your own!"

Zoro glared over at the other two, exuding an aura of anger and irritation. "It was _you?_"

"Well, no harm done in the long run, right?" Usopp laughed nervously and grabbed Luffy's arm. "We'll just be on our way..."

"I don't think so." Zoro grabbed them by the backs of their shirts before they could get far. "Wanna have a little fun, Chopper?"

* * *

"We understand why you're angry, and we're _very_ sorry!" Usopp insisted pitifully.

"Come on, you guys! I'm getting hungry!" Luffy whined.

Both boys had been buried upright, with only their heads above ground.

"You hear anything, Chopper?" Zoro asked from where he was basking on the rocks.

"Nope!" Chopper giggled and turned his attention back to the brand new tide pool left behind by the last tide change.


	5. All's Fair, K plus

**Title:** All's Fair  
**Theme:** Set #03, #14 War  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 857  
**Rating:** PG/K+  
**Warnings:** Sap, fluff, and excessive sweetness! One minor swear.  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime. The game they're playing is based on "Risk," which is the property of Parker Brothers and Hasbro.

Anything was possible in the Grand Line, including bright light at night. The Sunny was currently sailing through an expanse of sea inhabited by light-emitting seaweed. The plants were bright enough that night was indistinguishable from day, encouraging the crew to stay up later than usual.

After dinner one evening, Luffy decided he wanted to play a board game--even though he rarely had the patience to sit through a complete game. Franky and Usopp declined, instead hurrying off to examine some samples of the seaweed and brainstorm practical uses. Robin went to research the phenomenon in the library. Nami had first watch and was banned from game play anyway after several instances of side-betting. Chopper and Brook agreed readily enough, and even Sanji was eventually convinced to play.

"Has anyone asked Zoro?" Chopper inquired.

"I believe he's napping out on the lawn," Brook informed the doctor.

"Zoro doesn't really like board games anyhow." Luffy shrugged. "You can try, though!"

Chopper disappeared out the galley door and returned a few moments later with a rather disgruntled Zoro in tow.

"Coupon?" Sanji asked with a knowing smirk.

Zoro replied with a rude gesture. Chopper cleared his throat loudly before a fight could break out between the two.

"What shall we play?" Brook asked their excited captain.

"Let's play 'Hazard!' It'll be awesome!" Everyone else but Brook groaned. Luffy dashed off to find the box.

"I'm unfamiliar with this game," Brook confessed. "How does it work?"

"Every player has an army, and you try to conquer the world," Chopper explained.

"It takes _forever_." Sanji rolled his eyes and lit a cigarette.

"No one knows why Luffy always wants to play." Zoro sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "He never wins and is almost always the first player eliminated."

Luffy returned with the box and began setting up the board. Chopper helpfully handed the musician the rule pamphlet so Brook could bring himself up to speed. Brook selected the black army, Luffy was red, Zoro green, Sanji blue, and Chopper pink.

Sure enough, Luffy's army was the first to be defeated, and he wandered off to "help" with the seaweed investigation. Brook followed soon after, victim to a series of extremely unlucky dice rolls.

The board went through a series of alternating blue and green dominance with a stubbornly resistant pink corner. Eventually, Sanji managed to maintain control of most of the board.

"Ha! Clearly I have the superior strategic wit, marimo!"

"Think so?" Zoro smirked at him defiantly.

"Look at the board!" Sanji pointed. "It's practically--if you'll pardon the pun--all blue!" Zoro and Chopper both groaned at the bad joke.

Chopper took his turn, beat one of Sanji's territories, and drew a card, carefully maintaining a solemn expression.

Zoro eyed the reindeer's concealed hand of cards and grinned slightly. He attacked one of Sanji's most heavily fortified positions.

"Are you an idiot?" Sanji scoffed. "There's no way you'll win!"

"Maybe I'm not trying to win," Zoro countered.

"A suicide mission?" Sanji scowled at him. "How very like you."

"Shut up and take your defense roll."

As predicted, Zoro was unable to defeat Sanji's territory, but he took out almost half of Sanji's troops before moving on to attack another strongly guarded location. He continued with the pattern until the end of his turn.

Sanji gleefully added his reinforcements to the board and proceeded to trample Zoro's forces until there was only one territory left. He looked up triumphantly, only to see Zoro smirking back at him.

"Superior strategic wit, my ass! You just set yourself up for defeat," the swordsman informed him.

"What _are_ you talking about?"

"I'm making a trade in," Chopper announced cheerily.

Sanji gaped at the board in horror. He had to spread his armies thin to cover all of his territory and had used all of his reinforcements from the last turn in attempting to rout Zoro. Each successive trade in provided an increasingly large number of bonus armies, and the game had been going on long enough that Chopper was receiving a substantial boost to his forces. In ignoring Chopper, he had left his other flank open to attack. Sanji watched a tidal wave of pink wash his army from the board. Chopper momentarily stopped his advance at Zoro's lone territory.

"You're letting me win on purpose!" Though accusatory, the words were delivered with a grin.

"Not exactly." Zoro shook his head, grinning back. "I knew you were about due to trade in, and a _true_ strategist knows how to pick his battles." He shrugged. "You win some, you lose some."

Sanji excused himself, mumbling about conspiracies and people who should practice what they preach.

Chopper picked up his dice to begin his final attack.

"If I were _really_ conquering the world," Chopper mused, "I think I'd keep you around to be one of my generals."

"Thanks." Zoro chuckled. "That's very generous of you..." He could think of worse people to rule the world.


	6. Zoro Tells a Story, K

**Title:** Zoro Tells a Story  
**Theme:** Set #03, #1 Princess and/or Prince  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 864  
**Rating:** G  
**Warnings:** Sap, fluff, and excessive sweetness! Roundabout spoilers for Enies Lobby.  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.  
**A/N:** I'm operating under the assumption that everybody on the crew knows about what happens in everyone else's fights. Word must get around, right?

Zoro glanced over at the top of the ladder to the crow's nest when he saw movement. It was pretty rare for him to have company while he was up here training, but it was known to happen.

"Chopper?" The doctor was probably the last crew member he would have expected. "What are you doing up here?"

"I'm bored, and it's _hot_..."

The Thousand Sunny was currently docked at a summer island experiencing a blazing heat wave, waiting for the log pose to set. Chopper had never dealt with heat well, but he couldn't even try to find relief in the port town because the islanders considered him an animal and he was under quarantine. In a show of solidarity, the crew were all staying on the ship during the nights of the four days they had to stay, but most disappeared ashore during the day.

"That's too bad. What do you want _me_ to do about it?" Zoro was _trying_ for sympathy, but he was pretty sure he was failing.

Chopper appeared to be considering the question. Apparently, he'd only dragged himself up here because misery loved company.

"Usopp's been telling me stories when he's here," Chopper informed him. "Do you know any stories?"

"Not really. What kind of stories has Usopp been telling you? His usual stuff?" The adventures of the Great Captain Usopp were usually a crowd pleaser. Chopper shook his head, though.

"He's been sharing local fairy tales that he hears in town. They're all pretty much the same... There's a princess that needs help and a prince comes to save her."

"_All_ of them are like that?" Zoro couldn't help bristling at the idea. He hated the stereotype of a weak and fragile woman that always required rescuing.

"Pretty much." Chopper sighed miserably from his sprawled position on the floor. He rather resembled a reindeer-skin rug--if rugs could complain.

"I changed my mind. I have a story for you."

"Really?" Chopper was torn between glee and utter disbelief.

"Yeah. I'm not very good at this sort of thing, so cut me some slack, okay? So, uh..." Zoro floundered for the appropriate phrase.

"Once upon a time?" Chopper offered.

"Once upon a time, there was this princess. She got into trouble with some really powerful, uh, sorcerers, so some of her friends went to help her. One of her friends was a prince that for some stupid reason thought he shouldn't fight girls." Chopper decided not to comment on the transparency of this character's basis.

"One of the bad guys was a really powerful witch, and the idiot prince ended up confronting her because the group that came to help split up. He wouldn't fight her, so he got put under a spell.

"Lucky for him, one of the rescue party was a really clever princess. She was almost caught in the witch's spell, too, but only because she didn't know what to expect. She was able to escape by using her wits to outsmart the witch, because strength alone isn't what decides a battle. She also saved the prince from the spell he was under so he could keep fighting, even though she couldn't save him from _himself..._

"Anyway, the first princess--the one they came to rescue--thought she had no hope of escape, but when she saw how much her friends were willing to risk for her, she fought back against her captors. In the end, her friends helped, but she sort of saved herself, too." Zoro paused. It felt like something was missing here... He tried to remember how the stories he listened to as a child ended.

"I guess the moral is: just because someone's a girl doesn't mean they can't save other people--even princes sometimes--or fight their own battles. Um, the end."

"You're really _not_ very good at this," Chopper told him point blank. Zoro's right eye twitched alarmingly, so Chopper decided some placation was in order. "I liked that story, though! It was very... _interesting_, and it had a great moral!"

"Guess you won't be asking me to tell you any more stories, huh?" Zoro snorted.

"Oh, I don't know," Chopper teased. "I still have blank coupons..." Zoro's glare sent him scurrying back down the ladder. "I was only _joking!_"

Later that evening, Usopp decided to share some more stories he had heard that day.

"Say, Usopp," Chopper halted him part way through one of the usual formulaic tales, "do you know any stories where the _princess_ saves the day? After all, girls can be awesome fighters, too." Chopper was fairly certain he saw Zoro grin before he hid his face behind a mug of sake.

"Of course they can be!" Usopp thought for a moment. Either he was remembering a story he'd heard elsewhere or making one up one the spot--no one could ever tell. "Once upon a time..."


	7. Family Ties, K

**Title:** Family Ties  
**Theme:** Set #03, #4 Brother  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 672  
**Rating:** G  
**Warnings:** Sap, fluff, and excessive sweetness!  
**Spoilers/Continuity:** This would take place at some point in the Arabasta filler of the anime. Probably not a spoiler for most, but I thought I'd clarify anyway. Also of note and _spoilery_: at this point in time, I'm pretty sure the crew thought Luffy and Ace were blood related.  
**Acknowledgement:** Thanks to Callosum for her help and input!  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.

Chopper watched Luffy and Ace talking and laughing across the campfire at dinner. It must be nice to have someone who cared about you that much and knew you so well...

"Oi, _Chopper!_" Zoro's voice brought him out of his reverie.

"Huh?"

"I've only called your name about ten times..."

"Sorry," Chopper mumbled. "I was just thinking about... stuff. Did you need something?"

"Sanji wanted me to ask you if you wanted seconds, but they're probably gone now." Zoro narrowed his eyes at Chopper and cocked his head to the side. "You sure you're feeling okay? You've been pretty quiet tonight."

"I'm not sick," the doctor assured him. "It's just like I said--I was thinking."

"Wanna talk about it?" Chopper quirked an eyebrow and Zoro shrugged. "People are always telling me it's supposed to help. I'll understand if you don't want to, though. If it's personal, it's none of my business, but if it could affect everybody..."

"It's nothing like that..." He sighed. Chopper wasn't used to sharing his inner thoughts with others, but he really _did_ want to feel like he was truly a part of the crew. Friends talked about their feelings, right?

"I was thinking how it must be nice for Luffy, having a big brother like Ace." Zoro hadn't said anything and he was still listening, so Chopper continued. "I probably have a lot of brothers and sisters. My mother and father had fawns before me, and there's really no reason they wouldn't have continued producing offspring after me. I never met any of them, though. If I did, they'd probably hate me... I guess I'm just a little jealous that Luffy has family that care."

"What about that doctor lady you were living with? Or that guy before her? What was his name? Doctor..."

"Hiluluk." Chopper shook his head sadly. "Doctor and Doctorine both mean a lot to me, and Doctor may have called me his son, but it's not really the same, is it? I mean, I'm not even human..."

"You really think that makes a difference?" Zoro snorted. "The way I see it, there are two kinds of families. On one hand there are the kind you're talking about--the ones you're born into. Those people--or reindeer in your case--are connected to you by blood. On the other hand there's the family you choose. People you have a meaningful connection with and who mean a lot to you--the people you always want to see happy and would do anything for. Sometimes, if you're really lucky, some people are both.

"Doctor and Doctorine are just as much your family as the herd that kicked you out--more even, since those reindeer basically acted like you were never connected at all."

"Even though I'm a reindeer?" It was hard for Chopper to comprehend. He had heard that Nami was adopted, but she was human like her adopted mother. How could a reindeer really be Doctor's son?

"Carue's a duck, right?" Zoro asked. Chopper felt this was rather obvious, but Zoro seemed to want some kind of response so he nodded. "He's part of Vivi's family. He's not just a pet or a mount to her. He's her close friend and she loves him. That makes him just as much a member of her family as her parents."

"So, our crew is kind of like a family, too?" Chopper looked up at Zoro hopefully.

"I guess so. Sort of..."

"You wouldn't be ashamed to have a reindeer-human with a blue nose for a little brother?"

Zoro looked across the campfire at Usopp telling some kind of crazy story while Luffy listened in awe and picked his nose. Sanji was fawning shamelessly over the girls who were chatting away about who knew what, ignoring him completely.

"Trust me, Chopper," Zoro chuckled and rolled his eyes, "if I had to pick somebody on this crew to be ashamed of, it wouldn't be you."


	8. Procrastination, K plus

**Title:** Procrastination  
**Theme:** Set #03, #28 Trap  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 2329  
**Rating:** PG/K+  
**Warnings:** Sap, fluff, and excessive sweetness! One mild swear.  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.  
**A/N:** I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. I'm totally making stuff up about the vaccine! XP There are several vaccines requiring multiple doses, but not for the reason presented here, and they're spaced over a wider period of time.

As Chopper browsed bandages and other medical supplies in a shop that also contained a public clinic, he felt his eyes persistently being drawn to a rather long line of waiting people. Having finally gathered all his purchases, he walked up to the counter.

"Excuse me," he asked the clerk, "may I ask why there's such a line? Do you need the assistance of another doctor? I could help..."

"That's a line for vaccinations," the clerk told him. "There's been an outbreak of a nasty virus on the next island. Your crew should all get shots for it, if you plan on disembarking there. How many crew members on your ship?"

"Nine."

"One moment." The clerk turned to a shelf behind the counter and returned with several vials. "The line is moving slowly because the procedure is complicated and a bit lengthy..."

Chopper listened intently.

* * *

Chopper carefully planned the moment he would tell the crew about what he had decided to call "Operation: Six Shots Isn't So Bad!" Okay, the name needed work, but the point was, he needed everyone in the same spot and unlikely to leave for long enough to explain what needed to be done. He finally settled on the galley, just as Sanji was dishing up dinner. Hopefully, the food would be tempting enough to keep anyone from trying to bolt...

The log pose wouldn't finish setting until early the next morning, so everyone trickled in slowly from finishing their last errands on the island. As they all waited for Usopp, the last to arrive only because Zoro was being subjected to a strictly enforced buddy system, Chopper went over his speech in his head one last time. It was very important to the doctor that each crew member agree to the vaccination because it was an informed, logical decision. The last thing he wanted was for anyone to panic...

"Everyone!" Usopp burst in the galley door, eyes wide. "You'll never guess what I just heard in town!"

_Oh no..._

"Perhaps that there has been a viral outbreak on a nearby island?" Robin asked calmly.

"Yeah." Usopp blinked, taken aback. "You already heard?"

"Everyone all over town was talking about it," Nami interjected.

"It's supposed to be one nasty bug," Sanji added.

On second thought, perhaps this was the introduction he needed!

"Yes," Chopper agreed firmly, "it's a very unpleasant virus, but there _is_ a vaccination process."

"_Process?_" Zoro raised one eyebrow. "It's not just a quick shot?"

"No." Chopper took a steadying breath and decided to just tell them. "It's a series of six shots that must be administered under close observation because adverse reactions are fairly common but usually mild. Breaking the total dosage into smaller units given over several hours minimizes the risk of a severe reaction without compromising the overall effectiveness."

"Huh?" Luffy scratched his head.

"Basically," Zoro explained, "you sit in the infirmary for hours and get stuck six times."

"Oh. Is that all?" Luffy turned his focus back to Chopper. "Then we don't get sick, right?" The doctor nodded. "I'll go first!"

"Actually, I plan to try it myself first," Chopper announced. "You can come to the infirmary for yours tomorrow, Luffy. I'd like everyone to have their shots several days before we dock at the next island, to be sure the vaccine has time to fully take effect. How far away is the next island, Nami?"

"Near as I can tell," the navigator informed him, "it should take about two weeks, give or take a few days, depending on what the Grand Line throws at us."

"I would like to see everyone within the next week then, please."

The subject wasn't brought up again during the meal and Chopper was relieved. It seemed like he was worried over nothing.

* * *

After dinner that evening, Chopper had carefully read over the informational pamphlet he had received with the vaccine vials and administered his own set of shots. He didn't notice any adverse effects, but read over the symptoms again so they'd be fresh in his mind when he started inoculating the rest of the crew.

Usopp came in with Luffy the next morning. Chopper was very glad for it later, as he hadn't thought of any ways to keep Luffy entertained during the monitoring period. Usopp told them the story of his visit to the "Island of a Thousand Diseases" when he was five and a half. Before they knew it, the time was up and both Luffy and Usopp had all their shots with no problems.

Nami and Robin also came in together a day later. Sanji wanted to accompany the ladies as well, but Chopper wasn't sure he could keep track of dosing times accurately for three people, so the cook agreed--reluctantly--to come back later. They chatted about the shopping on the previous island, the book Robin was currently reading, how nice--and stable for once--the weather was that day, and Robin shared some interesting--if rather disturbing--facts she had recently learned about diseases unique to the Grand Line. Once again, the time flew by quickly.

Sanji returned later in the afternoon with a large bowl of potatoes. He spent his time carefully peeling and slicing the tubers and discussing herbs that could be both culinary and medicinal. Sanji's temperature was very slightly elevated at one point, but he reported no pain or tenderness at the injection site, and Chopper released him back to the galley.

Franky tried to talk his way out of getting the shots the day after that, as he was only partly flesh and blood, but Chopper insisted. Brook, who no longer required vaccinations of any kind, generously offered to help keep the cyborg shipwright's mind off the injections with some music. That afternoon, the infirmary was filled with the sound of duets on guitar and violin, accompanied by exuberant singing.

Never before had Chopper had so much healthy company while in the infirmary! It was actually quite nice, and he was almost sad that he had only one person left to treat.

He waited all the next morning for Zoro to stop in for his vaccination. The swordsman hadn't visited by lunch, but Chopper reasoned that perhaps he had been training all morning and would come in the afternoon or evening. He didn't.

The next morning, Chopper decided to remind him that the week would be over soon.

"Maybe you could drop by after breakfast?" Zoro was avoiding eye contact, which was highly suspicious. "It'll only take a few hours."

"I really need to catch up on my laundry," Zoro insisted. "Who knows when we'll get this much sunshine again? Have to take advantage of it while I can, right?"

"What about after lunch?"

"Training."

"Dinner?"

"I have dish duty. I'll talk to you later, okay?" Zoro hurried out of the galley after eating.

Zoro was actually using chores--one _with Sanji_ even--as excuses. Now Chopper _knew_ something was up with him! He was clearly putting off the shots as long as possible, but Chopper couldn't fathom why. It wasn't like Zoro to postpone unpleasantness--usually he faced it head on in order to get it out of the way. It looked like he was going to have to be sneaky...

* * *

Zoro flopped down on the aft deck for an impromptu nap. The narrow area around the galley wasn't a high traffic area, so hopefully he would be undisturbed. He had planned to be weight training, but Franky had been blocking the trap door to the crow's nest gym. He said he was doing some important repairs and wouldn't allow Zoro inside _or_ allow him to retrieve any weights for use elsewhere. Zoro didn't remember hearing any construction related sounds on his way up the ladder--or on the way back down for that matter... Odd...

The scraping of wood on wood drew Zoro's attention. He looked over to see Chopper standing outside the infirmary with the room's cot on the deck in front of him.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm rearranging the furniture in the infirmary." Chopper gestured at the bed. "Franky helped me pull the bed out before he went up to the gym, but now I can't move it back by myself. Could you help me?"

Zoro took one look at Chopper's wide, innocent eyes and the open infirmary door and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Something was _not right here_...

"You don't _have_ to, of course," Chopper continued. "I guess I can ask someone else. It's just that you're _right here_ and all..."

Against his better judgement, Zoro got up to help Chopper move the cot back into the infirmary. They maneuvered the bed through the doorway, with Zoro in front at the foot of the cot, and Chopper at the head. Zoro turned to look behind himself, only to see that the desk had been moved to block the exit to the galley. When he looked back, Chopper was blocking the other door in heavy point. Well, that'd teach him to ignore his instincts...

"Please," Chopper gestured to the bed again, "have a seat."

"This is about me not coming in for those shots, isn't it?" Zoro sighed.

"Why haven't you?" Chopper was honestly curious. "I know you don't really mind needles, so that's not it. Is it having to stay in the infirmary? Are you claustrophobic?" The space was quite small compared to some of the other locations on the Thousand Sunny.

"It's not the _size_ of the space," Zoro admitted grudgingly. "It's the _kind_ of space."

"You've been here for treatment before," Chopper pointed out. "Why is this different?"

"Ever notice how I'm always out of here as soon as you'll let me leave?" Chopper nodded. "This time I _have_ to stay, and I don't really like medical rooms." Now that Zoro was talking about it, he couldn't seem to stop himself, and the words kept flowing. "I know it's stupid, since I need to be treated a lot and it's usually my own damn fault, but I'm only here when I absolutely have to be and I associate it with pain. It's nothing personal, honest!"

"I think I understand." Chopper had shifted back to his small form, and he rested a comforting hoof on Zoro's knee. "I had a similar problem when I first started living with Doctor. His home smelled strongly of human and I had only ever had very bad experiences with people before he found me. The walls felt like a cage and I missed the feel of the wind. His home was full of strange equipment and other items I had never seen before and some of them frightened me. Doctor was very patient and encouraged me to explore on my own and ask questions until I felt more comfortable.

"Nothing in this infirmary is meant to cause pain. I'd like for you to see this as a place of healing and knowledge, like I do. If it would help take your mind off being stuck in here, you can ask me about anything you see here or any other questions you might have."

Zoro hated feeling like he was being pitied--even if he wasn't--and never backed down from a challenge if he could help it. He took a deep, calming breath.

"Okay, let's get this over with!"

* * *

Chopper had let the rest of the crew in on his plan, encouraging them all to help herd Zoro toward the infirmary. They were now all gathered in the galley, staring at the door to the room in question. Zoro and Chopper had been in there a long time, and it was awfully quiet.

"I do hope neither of them is dead," Robin remarked off-handedly, taking a sip of her coffee.

"D-dead?" Usopp gulped. "_Seriously?_"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Nami snapped, but she hadn't taken her eyes off the door. "Perhaps you should check on them, Robin?"

"I would hate to breach medical privacy."

"Maybe they're napping," Luffy suggested.

"It's almost dinner time," Sanji commented, idly chewing on the end of his cigarette. He narrowed his eyes and stepped forward. "No one's missing a meal on my watch, unless they _are_ dead!" He tapped the door sharply several times with the toe of one shoe.

"Yes?" Chopper's voice asked from within. The door opened, revealing that the desk had been returned to its usual location. Zoro and Chopper were sitting on the floor in front of Chopper's supply shelves.

"Dinner time already?" Zoro asked, noting the presence of everyone else at the table.

"Soon..." Sanji blinked. What _were_ they doing?

The occupants of the infirmary left the door open, turning back to the shelf and tuning out the crew in the other room.

"What about this one?" Zoro handed Chopper a jar full of dried roots. "What's 'Butterfly Weed' do?"

"A warm infusion of the root can help with chest congestion, but you have to be careful with the dosing or it'll make you vomit."

"Gross..." Zoro made a face and put the jar back. "This one?" He handed the doctor another jar.

"Feverfew has lots of uses..."

"Chopper never lets _me_ touch the herb jars!" The captain pouted.

"Brotherly bonding is so super..." Franky sniffed. "I'm not crying!"

Robin smiled and sprouted a hand from the floor, pushing the door shut again.


	9. Role Reversal, K plus

**Title:** Role Reversal  
**Theme:** Set #03, #21 Student  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 1724  
**Rating:** PG  
**Warnings:** Sap, fluff, and excessive sweetness! Mild violence.  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.  
**A/N:** This takes place more or less directly after the events of "Procrastination," so it'll make more sense if you've read that. (Which you probably _have_--I'm just sayin'...)

Sanji glanced up from preparing a marinade when he heard the galley door open. Zoro and Chopper entered, talking animatedly. They'd been pretty much joined at the hip since the previous evening and Zoro's vaccination.

"So," Chopper was asking, "the key points when considering sutures are?"

"Width and depth of the wound and location," Zoro obediently recited.

"You two are _still_ talking about random medical stuff?" The cook didn't think their resident swordsman had the attention span for this kind of focus if it wasn't training related, and Chopper would normally be indulging his inner child with Usopp and Luffy this time of morning.

"It's not random," Zoro insisted.

"Do you have any bananas?" Chopper asked. Sanji blinked.

Oh no, _that_ wasn't random _at all..._

"Bananas?"

"For suture practice," Zoro and Chopper answered at the same time.

"We'll eat them afterward," Chopper promised.

"And Zoro is practicing this _why?_"

"I've got the basics down, but Chopper says I can improve my efficiency and reduce scarring if I work at it."

"I could guess _that!_" Sanji rolled his eyes. "Why do you even _need_ to be good at it when we've got Chopper here?"

"Sometimes I might _not_ be here," Chopper said solemnly. "We were talking about it the other day... If the group should be separated again, or if I should happen to be injured in a manner I can't treat myself, it would be good for everyone to have some basic first aid knowledge. Obviously, I won't be teaching everyone complicated medical procedures--that's still _my_ job--but I'd like to know that everyone can take care of themselves in a pinch. Zoro volunteered to be first."

"I treated a lot of my own injuries before I joined up with Luffy," Zoro picked up the explanation where Chopper paused. "I was never all that great at it, but I already know a lot of basics about the sorts of injuries I usually get. Chopper's correcting some of my bad habits and showing me new stuff I didn't know. Also, if we can help each other with minor stuff, it'll take a lot of stress off Chopper after a big fight, and he can focus on the serious injuries."

"It's logical," they concluded, simultaneously again. Sanji had a weird feeling like this should be some kind of really strange dream, even though he knew he was awake. There was a long pause.

"So," Zoro drew out the syllable, "bananas?"

"How many do you need?" Sanji shrugged off the surreal stupor.

"Two should be fine," Chopper told him. "Thank you!"

Sanji watched them leave with their fruit, currently discussing whether the _length_ of a laceration should also be a consideration.

"I give them two days before they're driving each other crazy..." Sanji shook his head and turned back to his marinade.

* * *

Two days came and went, but the pair were still spending just as much time with one another. In fact, they were beginning to show signs of spending _too much_ time together!

After a small explosion related to a joint project, Usopp and Franky were given a surprise lecture by Zoro. He chastised them for not having proper protective eyewear and proceeded to show several suitably graphic images from one of Chopper's medical texts. Now Usopp jumped every time he heard a loud sound and threw his hands over his eyes...

Nami slipped on a ball that had been left out on the lawn deck, right in front of Chopper. Instead of going into his usual "Somebody call a doctor!" routine, he had walked over _calmly_ and asked if she was alright. When she replied that she was fine and the ankle didn't hurt, he hadn't insisted on an examination. Nami had felt compelled to ask _him_ if _he_ was feeling alright!

Finally, they arrived at the next island. Most of the harbor town was shut down due to the viral outbreak, so the crew were left to their own devices. When Chopper decided to go for a walk in the nearby woods and Zoro opted to stay onboard the Sunny and train, everyone--with the exceptions of the ever placid Robin and oblivious Luffy--breathed a sigh of relief at the brief return to normality.

* * *

Chopper looked up from the strange foliage he had been examining just as a beam of sunlight broke through the light cloud cover, shining down directly on a picturesque clearing. The ground in the small open space was blanketed in clover and new grass, and Chopper was mildly surprised to feel his mouth water. He decided to indulge himself and shifted to walk point. After all, what harm could there be in a little grazing?

The soft sunlight was pleasantly warm and the grazing sweet. Chopper lost himself in the soothing activity, letting his mind wander.

The wind shifted, and the scent of gunpowder hit the reindeer's senses like a slap in the face. He jerked his head up and caught the glint of light on metal in the brush to his right. Heart pounding, he followed the instinct to run, leaping left into some thick undergrowth. He darted forward in a zig-zagging pattern until he came to a gully carved out by a stream.

He heard the report of the hunter's gun just as he leapt to clear the gap. The bullet hit his left shoulder mid-jump, spinning him in the air and sending him crashing down to the rocky stream bed below. He landed badly and felt something snap in his right foreleg. He had the presence of mind to shift out of walk point and scrambled to hide behind a large rock nearby.

"Did you hit it?" a voice asked.

"I thought I did," another replied, "but I don't see anything..." The voices faded away.

Chopper couldn't get a good look at the bullet wound, and he wouldn't have been able to bandage it on his own anyway.

_I have to get back to the ship..._ The thought became an internal chant as Chopper stumbled back through the forest. His surroundings began to blur together, but eventually he heard familiar voices.

"Chopper?"

_Usopp?_

"What happened... bleeding..."

"Look at... arm!"

_Sanji and Nami, too... Did I make it back?_

"Move back." That was Zoro's voice. He tried to tell Zoro what he knew about his injuries, but no words would come. "It's okay, Chopper." He felt the swordsman pick him up carefully. "You're safe now." They were the last words he heard before everything went black.

* * *

Chopper blinked heavy lids before his memories came flooding back and he sat up abruptly, wincing.

"Easy, now." A warm hand landed gently on his right shoulder. "Welcome back."

Chopper realized he was on the cot in the infirmary. The unusual perspective was a little disorienting! Zoro was sitting in his chair, a small, weary smile on his face.

The doctor looked down to see that his broken right arm had been set and splinted just as he'd shown Zoro only the day before. He glanced to the other side to find swaths of white bandages covering his left shoulder.

"The bullet went clean through the muscle," Zoro told him, "so I just stitched up the wounds after disinfecting. It's the first suture practice I've had since the banana, so sorry if it scars..."

"Thank you!" Chopper felt tears welling. He was reminded how Doctorine, his own teacher, had been _his_ first patient. "Where's everyone else?"

"Probably right outside the door." Zoro chuckled and rolled his eyes. "You gave us all quite a scare!" He stood rather stiffly, and Chopper wondered how long he'd been sitting by the bedside. "I'll go let them know you're doing fine." Zoro leveled a finger at him expression stern. "You, get some rest!"

"Hey!" Chopper mock protested with a grin. "Who's the doctor here?"

Zoro laughed and some of the worry lines left his face. He left through the door to the galley and Chopper heard as he was greeted by many anxious voices. The doctor nodded off almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

* * *

When Chopper woke again, he was alone. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and hopped down. No one was in the galley either, but judging by the light streaming in the portholes, it was mid-afternoon. He exited onto the lawn deck and was greeted enthusiastically by the captain.

"Chopper's awake!" he announced.

The doctor soon found himself surrounded by concerned crew members asking a multitude of questions.

"What are you doing up?" The disapproving question carried over all the others. Chopper looked up to see Zoro frowning at him, arms crossed.

"There's nothing wrong with my legs," Chopper defended. "I don't see why I can't walk around a bit."

"You lost a lot of blood, and if you move around too much, you might pull those stitches."

"That's rich, coming from you!" Chopper scoffed. Apparently he'd created a monster... "Maybe I should take off my bandages and lift something heavy while I'm at it!"

"Oh, is _that_ how you want to play this?" Zoro narrowed his eyes, right brow twitching slightly. He scooped the protesting doctor up under one arm. "In that case, how about I drag you back to the infirmary and make pouty faces at you until you go to sleep just to _get away from me?_"

"_What?!_"

Sanji watched them disappear through the galley door.

"Maybe I was a little off on the time frame, but still..."

"Huh?" Usopp asked him, puzzled.

"Oh, nothing." The chef sauntered off to make a hearty vegetable stew for the patient.


	10. Reflexes, K

**Title:** Reflexes  
**Theme:** Set #03, #2 Baseball  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 1114  
**Rating:** G  
**Warnings:** I honestly can't think of anything in this one!  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.

It had started innocently enough as a simple game of catch with an old baseball. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper tossed the ball around in a triangle, switching direction on occasion to try and keep it interesting. Then they tried to keep passing as quickly as possible, the ball picking up speed as they went.

A particularly sharp toss from Chopper bounced off of Luffy's rubbery fingers and smacked into Usopp's arm. He rubbed the sore spot and then chucked the ball back at Luffy with a mischievous grin. Luffy laughed as the ball bounced off him again. He stretched out his right arm to retrieve the ball from across the deck and wound up his arm, grinning broadly. Usopp's eyes went wide.

"Luffy, wait! Don't-" It was too late! Usopp had just enough time to throw himself to the deck before the ball zinged over his head. Time seemed to slow as all three boys watched the ball hurtle directly toward Zoro's face where he was napping against the railing.

_THWACK!_

Zoro's left hand gripped the ball firmly. When the hand lowered, the swordsman's eyes were still closed.

"_Whoa..._" the ball players gasped simultaneously.

Zoro's eyes snapped open and he scowled at them.

"Guess this is mine now." Zoro tucked the ball into his haramaki, ignoring the whining from the others. "_Maybe,_" he spoke over the complaints, "I'll let you have it back later, _if_ you let me finish my nap in peace." With that, he leaned back against the railing and closed his eyes again.

Usopp and Luffy slouched off, grumbling all the way. Chopper lingered behind, studying Zoro intently.

"Fascinating," he mused in a low whisper. "I wonder..."

Zoro cracked one lid and looked directly at Chopper, clearing his throat pointedly. Chopper obediently scurried out of sight.

* * *

Chopper spent the next few hours working on his rumble ball supply, and when he ventured outside again, Zoro was awake and weight training. He was counting swings of the large barbell under his breath.

"485... 486... 487... Can I _help_ you with something, _Chopper?_" He never missed a beat, voice only slightly strained during the upswings. "490..."

"Were you really asleep earlier, when you caught the ball?"

"Right up until I _caught_ it, yeah. 495..."

"It was moving _really fast_, though," Chopper argued. "It'd be hard to catch even if you knew it was coming!"

"500." The weights hit the deck with a dull, metallic clunk. "Great reflexes?" Chopper snorted. "I'm serious," Zoro insisted.

"You're telling me," Chopper's tone was skeptical, "you're capable of blocking without even _thinking_ about it?"

"I _have_ to be! How can I explain it..." Chopper waited patiently.

"At a certain level of fighting skill, you can't focus on the present moment anymore," Zoro began after a considerate pause. "You've always gotta be thinking several moves ahead and anticipating what your opponents gonna do, so you have to trust your body to do what it has to almost on its own."

"_Really?_" Chopper frowned. "How is that possible?"

"Well, you practice every movement over and over. After a while, your body just remembers what to do..."

"I see!" Chopper exclaimed. "Muscle memory!"

He trotted over to where Zoro had set out additional training equipment and picked up one of the smaller barbells that Zoro used for arm curls.

"Do you mind if I try an experiment?"

"What kind of experiment?" Zoro asked warily.

"It won't hurt. I promise!" Chopper offered the barbell to Zoro.

"Whatever," the swordsman mumbled, taking the weight in his left hand. "I didn't ask 'cause I was _scared_..." He looked down at the weight. "What am I doing with this?"

"Just hold it," Chopper told him dismissively. "Do you know what Sanji has planned for dinner?"

"Huh?" Zoro looked back over at the doctor, eyebrow raised. "That's a pretty random change of subject!"

"I'm a little hungry." Chopper shrugged.

"I expect it'll probably be some kind of fish, since Luffy and Usopp caught some earlier." Chopper's eyes had drifted from Zoro's face and he was staring at something, eyes wide. "Are you even listening to me anymore? What's so interesting?"

"It's true!" Chopper's voice was filled with awe. "Your body really _does_ do things on it's own from memory!"

Zoro followed the reindeer's line of sight to where--sure enough--his left arm was enthusiastically curling the weight. He frowned and stopped the movement. For all that this sort of thing was handy in a fight, it was a little creepy at the moment!

"Is that a whale over there?" Chopper pointed over the rail to Zoro's right. He turned to look and squinted at the horizon.

"I don't see anything. Are you sure-"

"This is _so awesome!_"

He was about to ask what was "so awesome," when he realized that he was curling the weight again.

"Stop it." He wasn't sure whether he was talking to Chopper, his arm, or both.

Luffy came sailing out the galley door, likely courtesy of Sanji.

"Whatcha' doing?" Luffy asked as he ambled over to the two.

"Nothing," Zoro told him.

"Hey, Luffy!" Chopper beamed at the captain, eyes sparkling. "Want to see something really cool?"

"Sure!"

"No." Zoro set the weight down. He ignored Chopper's whine of dismay and started to walk away while Chopper explained about his "reflexes."

"Heads up!" Luffy called after him, and Zoro whirled around and caught the arm weight before it could hit him in the back of the head.

"What is _wrong_ with you?" Zoro seethed. "First of all, don't disrespect training equipment that way! Secondly, if it _hadn't_ been _me_, somebody would've gotten hurt! Third..." He trailed off as he realized they weren't paying any attention to his words, and he had a pretty good idea _why..._

_Stupid arm!_

"See?" Chopper told Luffy.

"_Awesome!_" the captain agreed. "Usopp's gotta see this!"

Zoro groaned and rolled his eyes. It looked like he'd be getting in some extra arm exercise for a while...


	11. Things Aren't Always What They Seem, K

**Title:** Things Aren't Always What They Seem  
**Theme:** Set #03, #7 Illusion  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 608  
**Rating:** G  
**Warnings:** Sap, fluff, and excessive sweetness! Mild spoilers for Little Garden and Enies Lobby.  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.

The crew had arrived during a local festival on a small island and unanimously voted to enjoy the festivities, since most of the shops where they could purchase supplies were closed for the day.

A small mob of children had been fascinated by the unusual pirate crew. Luffy was more or less a big kid himself, so many of the younger children took to him immediately. Usopp also had quite a following that were currently listening intently to some of the adventures of the Great Captain Usopp. Even Zoro had been surrounded by a small group that thought his swords were very cool.

Chopper had been listening to one of Usopp's stories himself when he heard loud giggling from over where he had last seen Zoro.

"Do it again!" a voice cried.

"Again! Again!" several others agreed.

"Okay, fine." Zoro rolled his eyes. He was acting like it was a terrible annoyance, but Chopper could tell by the twinkle in the swordsman's eye that he was actually enjoying himself. "This is the last time, though, okay?"

Chopper moved closer and watched as Zoro held up his right hand with the palm toward himself, grasping the thumb with the first two fingers of his left hand. The doctor was taken completely by surprise when Zoro moved his left hand to the side and _pulled off his thumb!_

"Ah!" Chopper wailed. "Somebody call a doctor! Find some ice! Maybe we can reattach it!" He was running around in a small circle, panic having set in full force.

"Chopper!" Zoro called to him. "Calm down, I'm fine!"

"It's just a trick," a little girl explained. "Look!"

Sure enough, when he paused to look, Zoro was holding up both hands, palms facing out and all digits in their proper locations. He sighed in relief.

The group of children around Zoro wandered off back into the crowd, trying to perfect the illusion themselves. Zoro walked over and rested a hand on Chopper's shoulder. The doctor was still trembling slightly.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Zoro's brow was furrowed in concern. "That trick isn't supposed to be scary..."

Chopper laughed loudly, the tone slightly hysterical. He took a few deep breaths. The situation really was ridiculous, now that he thought about it.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "It's just that you're prone to trying to cut off parts of yourself..."

"I am?" Zoro was still eying him like he feared for the reindeer's sanity.

"I heard about when you tried to cut your legs off to get out of Mr. Three's wax trap, and Usopp told me that you wanted to cut a hand off to get out of the seastone cuffs in Enies Lobby!" Chopper frowned at him. "How was I supposed to know this was any different?"

"Those were emergency situations!" Zoro countered defensively. "I wouldn't cut off one of my thumbs just for fun!" Chopper still didn't look fully convinced.

"You never take your personal safety seriously! That's very troubling for me, as your doctor!"

"Wow..." Chopper watched as realization dawned on his older crew mate. "You think about this a lot, don't you?" The doctor nodded.

"I know it's probably silly..."

"Tell you what," Zoro offered with a small smile, "I promise to do my best to keep all _self_-mutilation to a minimum in the future."

"A _bare_ minimum," Chopper amended. "Even in emergencies!"

"Are we good now?"

"One more thing." Chopper shifted to heavy point and held out his hands. "Can you show me how to do that?"

Zoro laughed. "Sure."


	12. Ribbit, K plus

**Title:** Ribbit  
**Theme:** Set #03, #26 Frog  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 664  
**Rating:** PG  
**Warnings:** Sap, fluff, and excessive sweetness! Sanji uses his favorite word.  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.  
**A/N:** I feel there are some clear downsides to understanding animals...

The small, swampy island at which the Sunny was currently moored was uninhabited. Nami elected to stay on board after a very muddy trek to survey the area for her charts. The younger boys found the muddy terrain to be exceptionally entertaining for a while, sloshing through the shallows and chasing frogs.

Those very same frogs proved to be the worst thing about the place!

As the sun set, the swamp came alive with a surprisingly loud cacophony of frog calls. They made it very difficult to sleep, and by the morning after the first night, everyone was checking frequently to see whether the log pose had set!

To the crew's general dismay, night fell again before they were able to continue their journey.

Zoro was heading below deck for the evening, contemplating whether meditation might help tune out the racket, when he spotted Chopper sitting dejectedly by the railing.

"I guess the noise really bothers you, huh?" Zoro called out. No response. "Chopper? _OI!_"

The reindeer finally jumped slightly at the shout and turned to acknowledge the swordsman. He removed a set of earplugs.

"Sorry, Zoro! It's just these _frogs..._"

"They _are_ pretty loud and annoying, huh?" Zoro realized something. "Isn't your hearing more sensitive than the rest of us? No wonder you need those earplugs..."

"It's not so much _that..._" A particularly obnoxious croak drifted over to them and Chopper shuddered, making a disgusted face. "It's what they're _saying..._"

"Yeah?" Zoro had honestly never given any thought to what went on in the mind of a frog.

"They're trying to attract mates, you know," the doctor explained.

"So it's like a crowd of froggy Sanji's out there?"

"_Worse!_" Chopper shuddered again. "Do you remember that tavern we had dinner at a few islands back? Where those drunk guys kept making catcalls at the waitress?"

Unfortunately, Zoro _did_ remember. He didn't think he was terribly easy to offend--arguments with Sanji aside--but even he had been appalled by some of the things the group of men had been shouting. Any member of the crew would have been willing to step in on the waitress' behalf, but Sanji was, of course, the first on the scene. Zoro had taken a measure of satisfaction in watching the cook literally kick the snot out of the drunken men!

"It's like _that_, huh?" Chopper nodded solemnly in reply. "Is there anything that will make them shut up?"

"Well..." Chopper thought about the question carefully. "They'll be quiet if they think a predator is nearby, so they won't draw attention to themselves."

"Hmm..."

* * *

Sanji had just finished cleaning up the galley for the evening when everything went oddly quiet. He stepped out on deck for a smoke and was surprised to see Zoro standing in the middle of the swamp next to the ship, all three swords drawn, going through the motions of some of his attacks.

"What _are_ you doing, moss-head?"

"Training. What does it _look_ like, curly?"

"At night? In the middle of a swamp?"

"Yep!" Zoro grinned maliciously around Wadou's hilt and sent a wave of air through a swath of nearby cattails.

"Whatever. At least you're keeping those shitty frogs quiet for a while!" It really was a nice break. He'd been beginning to crave frog's legs something fierce!

"_Yep!_"

Sanji rolled his eyes and turned to head below deck. He paused for a moment, almost certain he'd just heard Zoro say something about "slimy, little perverts!" He shrugged it off and continued on his way. With this crew, it was usually best not to ask!


	13. Fair Compensation, K

**Title:** Fair Compensation  
**Theme:** Set #03, #30 Rebel  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 1457  
**Rating:** G  
**Warnings:** Sap, fluff, and excessive sweetness! Spoils for Arabasta, if that still spoils anybody... Also mentions names of folks from later in the series, but if you already recognize the names, is that really a spoiler?  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.

"No." Zoro answered curtly.

"You didn't even think about it!" Usopp protested. Luffy and Chopper nodded in agreement.

"Okay." Zoro pretended to contemplate the request for a few moments, placing one hand to his chin for effect. "Still no."

"Why _not?_"

"The whining isn't going to make me reconsider."

"Is it because you think Nami's scary, too?" Luffy asked sympathetically.

"_What?_ No!" Zoro scoffed. "If anything, it's because all of _you_ think she's scary!"

"Only because she _is..."_ Chopper insisted.

Ages ago, Nami had determined what she felt to be a reasonable shore leave stipend for each crew member. Additional funds could be requested for necessary supplies relating to food, medicine, and general upkeep, but the personal shares had remained the same.

Unfortunately, prices throughout the Grand Line varied wildly. It seemed that the farther they traveled, the more they had to stretch what funds they had.

Two islands back they had come into a fairly respectable amount of treasure, and Usopp had hoped the boost in overall funds would lead to an increase in the longstanding shares. No such luck! He had shared his frustration with Luffy and Chopper and they had come to the conclusion that someone should talk to Nami about it. Hence, trying to get Zoro to do it for them.

Didn't they realize why no one had brought this up before? No one talked to that woman about money without coming out of the conversation even further in debt!

"Look," Zoro explained with a sigh, "I know exactly how this would go down if I agreed. I'd bring it up, expecting you three to be behind me all the way, but then you lot would scatter as soon as she got angry. I'd be left looking stupid, and she'd fine me or raise my interest or something for causing a scene! If you really want to stand up to her, do it yourselves..."

"It's sad to see you giving in to irrational fears like this, Zoro." Usopp shook his head and shrugged.

"Nice try." Zoro leveled a glare at him. "Baiting me isn't going to work, either."

"I don't wanna do it!" Luffy shook his head emphatically. "She'll hit me, and one time she made Sanji not let me have dessert."

"I think Chopper should do it, if Zoro won't," Usopp decided.

"Huh?" Chopper swallowed audibly, eyes wide. "Why me?"

"She won't expect confrontation from you, so she'll be thrown off balance. Also, you should never underestimate the power of a cute face!"

"More like Luffy already said 'no' and you don't want to do it yourself," Zoro chimed from the corner.

"Non-supporters don't get to contribute to the discussion," Usopp informed him.

"I wouldn't know what to say!" Chopper shuffled his hooves nervously.

"Oh, don't worry!" Usopp slapped a hand on his back. "I'll take care of all that. Just do it exactly how I tell you, and we've got this thing in the bag!"

* * *

Usopp had insisted that they approach Nami when she was alone, because then she wouldn't be able to sic Sanji on them and might be more willing to give in if she felt outnumbered. That was the _theory_ anyway. The navigator was currently sunbathing in her deck chair, and Sanji was safely busy in the galley, preparing dinner.

Chopper took a hesitant step forward, then paused to check that Usopp and Luffy were still behind him. They _were_ at the moment, but he remembered Zoro's earlier complaint and rather ashamedly admitted to himself that it had basis in fact.

Zoro was napping against the railing nearby, and Chopper drew courage from his presence. He'd prove to Zoro that he could stand up for himself if he wanted! Also, if things got out of hand, the swordsman wouldn't let Nami kill him, right?

"Nami?" He hadn't stuttered--a good start! Nami propped herself up on her elbows and looked at him expectantly. He took a deep breath and launched into his carefully rehearsed speech. "There is a serious monetary issue we wish to address."

"Oh?" She arched one brow, smirking slightly.

"We feel that under current economic pressures and based upon merit of services rendered to the crew that it would be beneficial to morale if our stipends were to be increased-"

"You think I don't know about 'current economic pressures?' Who do you think manages the budget here?" Nami sat up fully and placed her hands on her hips. "I'll have you know that I gave those stipends very careful consideration when they were established, and nobody complained then!"

"Um..." He ran through his speech in his head trying to find a counterpoint to the interruption. "We understand that a lot of work went into your original decision, but the values have not been reviewed for a considerable length of time, and-"

"Are you willing to help me go over all the figures involved, because I don't think you really understand how each part of our budget affects everything else!"

"W-we... Uh..." Chopper floundered. The threat of having to do math didn't bode well for them. Everyone knew Nami was amazing with numbers!

"_We?_" Nami asked with a rather wicked smirk.

Chopper had a sudden sinking feeling as he turned to look behind himself once more. No trace of either Usopp or Luffy was to be found. Chopper bit his lower lip and squared his shoulders before turning back around.

"No," Chopper continued, abandoning Usopp's script, "I _don't_ know all the details of the budget. I _do_ know that you keep an emergency reserve, and you add to it whenever we have any extra funds. You've pulled money from it before to treat the crew, when it got above a certain amount, haven't you?"

Nami's eyes narrowed slightly. "Yes, I have. Believe it or not, I'm not opposed to rewarding you boys when you've earned it, but there _are_ limits!"

"Well, couldn't you make it an option to either have a group reward or to divide that amount evenly among the individual stipends?"

"I suppose that's a possibility," Nami mused, "but don't you think everyone ought to have a say in that? Can you speak for everybody?"

Chopper glanced at the vacant deck behind him and sighed. "I guess not..."

"He can speak for _me._"

Both Chopper and Nami had forgotten Zoro was there, and they jumped slightly when he spoke.

"Really?" Chopper grinned up at Zoro as he came to stand behind him.

"Really."

"So, it's just the two of you, then?" Nami asked. The two boys looked around at the empty deck, exchanged a glance, and shrugged. "If it means that much to you, I think I can handle a little bonus..."

* * *

True to her word, Nami gave Chopper and Zoro a bonus to their stipends--_one beli each._

Zoro accepted the result with a shrug. A win was a win as far as he was concerned, and he was just glad they hadn't come out of it _owing_. Chopper supposed he could understand that.

They had combined their bonuses to purchase a collector's "Go Fish" deck with pictures of the Shichibukai, Vice Admirals, and Admirals. It was on clearance because it was out of date and still included Crocodile.

"Do you have any Mihawks?"

"Go fish!" Chopper giggled. "You ask that _every time!_"

"Yeah, well, they're in there somewhere..." Zoro glared balefully at the deck as he drew a card.

"Do you have any Aokijis?" Zoro handed him a card. "Thanks."

"What for? You asked for it."

"Not just for the card," Chopper clarified. "You backed me up, even after you said you wouldn't talk to Nami for us, so thanks."

"You stood your ground like a man," Zoro told him sincerely. "I respect that."

"Shut up!" Chopper wriggled, grinning madly. "I don't care about your opinion of me! Jerk!"

"Yeah, yeah... Got any Mihawks?"

"Zoro, I haven't drawn any new cards since your last turn..."

"So? _I_ get to draw a card." He did so, then cursed rather colorfully. "Where _are_ they?"

"I'm sure you'll find them." This was by far the best two beli Chopper had ever spent. "Do you have any Kumas?"


	14. The Things We Choose to Be, K plus

**Title:** The Things We Choose to Be  
**Theme:** Set #03, #24 Guard  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 582  
**Rating:** PG  
**Warnings:** Sap, fluff, and excessive sweetness! There's some violence in this one.  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.

Chopper shifted from heavy point to brain point in midair to dodge a swing of his opponent's axe. His hoof slipped on contact with the damp deck, and he fell backward, knocking the back of his head against the ship's railing. He momentarily saw stars, and when his vision cleared, it was only to see the weapon bearing down on him again. He knew he wouldn't have time to completely evade the blow, but he threw himself to the side anyway.

He opened his tightly closed eyes when the expected pain never hit. Chopper looked up to see Zoro between him and the pirate with the axe. The swordsman had caught the metal axe handle against two crossed blades. The force of the attack had been enough to press far enough forward for the very edge of the axe blade to bite into Zoro's left shoulder.

With a grunt Zoro uncrossed the blades, knocking the other pirate backward. He struck a finishing blow before the man could recover his balance.

"You okay, Chopper?"

He nodded mutely in response, and Zoro was gone across the deck as quickly as he had appeared. Chopper shook his head and brought his mind back to the fight at hand.

Later, as he treated Zoro's shoulder injury, he couldn't help feeling just as annoyed as he was grateful.

"You shouldn't have this injury at all," he grumbled under his breath.

"Better me than you." Zoro had heard him.

"Why is that?" Chopper snapped. "I can fight, too! We all have to watch out for ourselves in a fight, and injuries happen! It wouldn't have been a fatal blow--I could take it!"

Zoro blinked at him, eyes comically wide, and Chopper was embarrassed by his outburst. The doctor looked away and rummaged around for a fresh roll of bandages.

"I know you can fight." Zoro's voice was unusually soft. "Everyone on this crew _has_ to be a fighter because we're pirates, but that's not what defines most of you. Franky's a shipwright, Robin's an archaeologist, Nami's a navigator, and so on..." He locked gazes with Chopper, eyes a little sad. "You most of all shouldn't have to cause injuries instead of treating them. You _are_ a doctor, and you _choose_ to fight for the crew.

"I'm a different story. The fighting _does_ define me because that is the life _I've_ chosen. I _am_ a fighter. I train for it every day. I know and understand the consequences of battle, and I am prepared to face them at any time.

"If I have any say in the matter, I will _always_ choose to be between my nakama and danger."

Chopper finished bandaging Zoro's wound in thoughtful silence. When he rose to leave, the doctor stopped him with a firm grip on one leg of his pants.

"I think I understand," Chopper announced with a small smile. "You _are_ a fighter, and you _choose_ to be _our_ fighter, right?"

"Right." Zoro smiled back.

If Zoro chose to guard them all, Chopper could do nothing less than choose to do his best to keep the swordsman in prime fighting shape.


	15. The Black Swan, K

**Title:** The Black Swan  
**Theme:** Set #03, #23 Swan  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 2655  
**Rating:** G  
**Warnings:** Sap, fluff, and excessive sweetness!  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.  
**A/N:** Black swans _do_ exist, but it once meant something very rare. Also, this piece references "The Things We Choose to Be," but it's not necessary to have read both.

"I can't _believe_ this!" Nami fumed and the small wooden box in her hands creaked alarmingly as her grip tightened.

"How could you be so careless?" Sanji accused Zoro.

"Me? You're the one who kicked it!"

"Maybe you should think before you dodge!"

"That doesn't even make any sense!"

"Guys," Chopper tried to warn them, but Nami had already whipped around to face the arguing men.

"You're _both_ to blame! I just had to spend 10,000 beli on a music box that doesn't even _work_ anymore because of you two!"

Zoro and Sanji both looked suitably subdued, eyes to the ground, until they both declared, "He started it!"

Chopper looked at the box and sighed.

They had found it in a small antique shop. Nami had been delighted with the song that it played, excitedly explaining that it was a favorite of Bellemere's. Chopper had agreed that it was a lovely tune. Nami was debating whether or not to buy it, as it wasn't cheap, when disaster struck.

Sanji and Zoro had been fighting over some silly matter that they couldn't even remember now, and Sanji's kick that was meant for Zoro had knocked the music box out of Nami's hands instead. It hit the shop floor with a crash and the sad, tinkling clatter of its inner workings meeting a sudden demise.

She hadn't really had to pay the entire price alone, as she had confiscated all the money Sanji and Zoro had on them to chip in on the cost, but Nami hated to spend money for no reason.

"Maybe Usopp and Franky can fix it?" Chopper suggested. "We might be able to find another one like it, too..."

"This is the only music box I've ever seen that played that particular song!" Nami sighed sadly. "It's not a very well known tune. Just look how old this thing is! It's probably one of a kind..."

"Searching for something unique, you say?"

The heads of all four pirates snapped to the side to look at a figure none of them had noticed before. A hunched form in a dark cloak stood in the opening of an alleyway, hood shadowing their upper face. It was impossible to tell whether the elderly person was male or female under the flowing fabric, and the voice was raspy and of a middle range pitch.

"My own shop is just down the alley." The figure gestured down the dimly lit, narrow passage. "We specialize in the very rare at the Black Swan. Every item we stock is the only one of its kind in all the Grand Line."

"That's sounds expensive," Nami commented warily.

"I'm sure we could come to some sort of arrangement," the cloaked figure insisted. "I do so love to barter..."

Nami's eyes lit up at the thought of a deal. She could usually talk circles around most vendors.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt just to take a look." She followed the shop owner down the alley, Sanji close on her heels. Chopper started to follow, but Zoro stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll go with them, but I want you to head back to the ship. Something's fishy here, and we might need help later."

Chopper felt his hackles rise at Zoro's tone. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure--it's just a feeling." Zoro narrowed his eyes, one hand drifting over to his swords. "If we don't come back in an hour, will you come after us, just in case?"

Chopper nodded and hurried off to the docks. Zoro caught up with Nami, Sanji, and the creepy shop owner just as they were entering a shabby storefront at the end of the alley. A sign swung above the door--a simple, black painted, wooden cut out of a swan, without any lettering whatsoever.

The inside of the shop was far roomier than the front suggested. All three guests gasped as they took in the sight before them. Items of all varieties were on display, each clearly carefully maintained. Nami wandered toward some mapmaking supplies in a side room and Sanji disappeared into another doorway leading to an area with cookware.

Zoro lingered near the front entrance. Something about this place made him very uneasy. He couldn't place it until his hand brushed against one of the items on a nearby table. He pulled his hand back quickly, eyes wide.

It appeared to be nothing more that a small ceramic statuette, but when he'd touched it, it hadn't felt like he expected. He was reminded of the first time he'd touched Sandai Kitetsu, but that wasn't quite the same either. It was almost like the aura he sensed from other _people_...

"Oh my." The shop keeper's chuckle came from right behind him. "I never would have imagined you to be so... _sensitive._ It would appear I'll have to start with you."

Before Zoro could react at all, there was a brilliant flash of light.

* * *

Chopper scrambled up the Sunny's gangplank, gasping for breath, desperately scanning the deck for any other crew members.

"My goodness! Is something the matter?"

"Robin!" Chopper latched on to her legs. "Zoro sent me back for help because there was a creepy shop keeper and something didn't feel right!"

"A creepy shop keeper?" Luffy's head popped around a corner, quickly followed by the rest of him, Usopp dragged behind.

"He said he had a shop that sold unique things, and Zoro said that something seemed fishy," Chopper continued. "Zoro doesn't usually get worried like that for no reason!"

"I wanna see!" Luffy hooted. "Let's go!"

"Unique things, huh?" Usopp rubbed his hands together. "I bet there's some things I could use there! What was the place called?"

Chopper was slightly miffed that no one else--not even Usopp--seemed to be concerned. At least they were agreeing to go back with him! "I think he called it the 'Black Swan.'"

Robin gasped, and her expression turned serious. "I've read of such a shop before. If we're very fortunate, we won't be too late!"

"T-too late for what?" Usopp gulped nervously.

"There isn't time to explain. We need to hurry."

* * *

Chopper led them back through the streets of the town, but the alley wasn't where he remembered. Finally, he caught the scent of the others and they found the storefront. They rushed inside, but none of their three crew mates were in sight. The shop keeper was seated in a chair behind a counter.

"Can I help you?" The cloaked figure's voice was laced with amusement.

"I believe you already know why we are here," Robin replied coolly.

"Very well," now the shop keeper's voice was equally cold, "you may each have _one_ guess."

"What is going on here?" Usopp wailed. "I'm so confused!"

"This is _not_ a normal shop," Robin explained. "All of the items here were once people."

Usopp and Chopper gasped, and Luffy carefully set the item he had been examining back on its shelf and backed away.

"What about the others?" Chopper whimpered. "Are they..."

"Yes." Robin kept speaking, but her eyes were busy scanning the room. "We are each allowed to guess the identity of one item. If we can correctly locate our friends, they will be returned to us, but if we guess incorrectly, we will become items ourselves."

"Exactly," the shop keeper agreed. "I started with the swordsman. He'd make a lovely addition to my collection, you see... The girl and the other man couldn't find him, so I claimed them as well."

"We only get one guess?" Usopp licked suddenly dry lips. "How are we supposed to tell what they are?"

"The items should represent them in some way," Robin instructed. "I suggest we discuss our guesses before making a final decision."

"Feel free to examine the items at your leisure," the shop keeper told them. "A guess is final when you touch the item and state the name of your guess."

They decided to stay close together, partly for the sense of security and partly to be sure Luffy was being extra careful.

Usopp found his eyes drawn to several log poses. One in particular was set on a golden band studded with gems. Something was odd about it though, and he pointed it out to the others.

"Awesome!" Luffy peered at the glass ball. "It's raining!" Instead of the compass needle usually found in a log pose, this one contained what appeared to be a small weather system.

As Luffy reached out to touch the item, the tiny clouds dissolved away and it emitted a bright, sunny light. Slightly surprised, he began to pull his hand back and the clouds gathered again.

"Yeah, it's interesting and all, but we should keep looking." Usopp grabbed Luffy's wrist. They started to turn away and the clouds grew darker, tiny bolts of lightning flashing.

"Hey..." Luffy turned back and picked up the log pose. "It's like it's angry!"

"It does kind of remind me of Nami's mood swings, I guess." Usopp shrugged. A small rumble of thunder came from the glass ball, then the rain from the clouds froze into snow and it emitted a harsh cold. "N-no offense!" The weather calmed again, but the dark clouds remained.

They showed it to Robin and Chopper and they set it aside.

There was a rack of clothing at the back of the front room, and Robin pulled out a full suit on a hanger for closer examination. It was an old-fashioned gentlemanly suit that brought to mind the covers of historical romance novels. It was made of fine silks and other expensive fabrics. It had clearly seen a lot of wear, but each damaged spot had been expertly repaired. The shoes especially, though carefully shined, were scuffed and battered. The vest, tie, and cufflinks were a deep, rich blue. Most striking, however, were the pristine, white kid gloves--the only pieces of the ensemble that were still in mint condition.

Robin carefully laid the suit next to the weather log pose.

"Did anyone see anything that looked like it might be Zoro?" Luffy voiced the question on everyone's mind. He was answered with head shakes all around.

"We know he will be particularly difficult," Robin mused, "since Nami and Sanji both failed to correctly select him."

"I think I saw some weapons in one of the back rooms." Usopp grabbed Luffy's arm and they went to look again.

"Has something occurred to you?" Robin asked the doctor.

"I was just thinking that maybe a weapon is too obvious." He shrugged. "I know that Zoro is a swordsman, but does that mean he has to be a weapon?"

"That's a good point," Robin agreed encouragingly. "How might he see himself?"

Robin left to check on the other two, and Chopper looked around the main room again. The dim light glinted off something propped against the wall behind a table across the room, and Chopper moved closer to investigate.

The object was a round shield. The body of the shield was a thick piece of hardwood, plated in brass. In a few places, the plating had tarnished to an almost green color, but for the most part, the brass still gleamed. The face of the shield was dented and scarred from battle, but clearly no weaker for having sustained the damage. A large diagonal mark across the shield seemed particularly familiar...

_"If I have any say in the matter, I will _always_ choose to be between my nakama and danger."_

He picked up the shield and was struck with a comforting feeling of rightness. Chopper turned around to find the shop keeper looming behind him.

"Very clever." The cloaked figure didn't sound happy. "It's a shame to end the fun so quickly, however."

The shop keeper raised a hand and there was a flash as Chopper squeaked and ducked behind the shield.

"Chopper! Are you okay?" Luffy called from the doorway to the back room. Usopp and Robin were standing behind him.

"Yes." The shop keeper had disappeared, and he was fine. "What just happened?"

"The cloak guy shot a beam at you, but it bounced off the shield and hit him instead!"

The building began to shake around them.

"Quickly!" Robin hurried over to the items they had selected for Nami and Sanji. She placed a hand on the suit. "Sanji." There was a flash and suddenly there was a dazed Sanji lying where the suit had been. Robin summoned extra hands and feet to carry him toward the door.

Luffy stretched out a hand to the log pose as he dashed over. "Nami!" He and Usopp pulled her arms over their shoulders after she changed back. The music box had reappeared with her, and Usopp absently scooped it up under one arm.

"We never found Zoro!" Usopp looked around frantically.

"He's right here!" Chopper changed to heavy point. "Zoro!" He flung the semi-conscious swordsman over one shoulder and they all ran out the front door.

They were halfway down the alley when there was a loud popping sound and the tremors ceased. Now the end of the alley was nothing but a dead end brick wall, as though the shop had never existed at all.

Everyone paused to catch their breath. Nami stood shakily on her own feet and then slugged Usopp in the arm.

"I'll show you mood swings!"

"I'm sorry!" Usopp backed away rubbing his arm, only to be tripped by a long leg.

"How dare you offend Nami-san!" Sanji scowled at him. "Her anger toward you idiots is always justified!"

"I _said_ I was _sorry!_" He was still holding the box.

"My music box!" Nami was delighted. "We'll call it even if you can repair that for me!"

"Huh? Sure..."

"You can put me down now, Chopper." Zoro's voice was far more subdued than usual. He said nothing else on the walk back to the Thousand Sunny.

* * *

Zoro was suspiciously quiet the rest of the day. Chopper followed him out on deck after dinner. Zoro was leaning on the railing, staring out at the ocean.

"I'm okay, Chopper," Zoro addressed him without ever turning around. "I'm just... tired."

"Are you upset you couldn't do more?" Chopper moved over to stand beside him. "You couldn't have known what the shop keeper was planning."

"I guess that's part of it," Zoro grudgingly admitted. "I keep thinking about how full that shop was! So many people trapped there forever... If you guys hadn't been able to find us, we'd have been there forever, too."

"I was going to go _with_ you," Chopper argued. "The only reason I could come back to help is because you warned me away in the first place! In the end, you _still_ protected me, even though you'd been turned into an inanimate object!"

There was a moment of thoughtful silence.

"A shield is really only any good if there's someone behind it," Zoro finally said. Chopper was about to ask what _that_ was supposed to mean, when Zoro continued. "Our crew is a great team. I'm glad I have all of you behind me."

"Always," Chopper added firmly. "_Beside_ you, too."

The others trickled out on deck into the cool evening air. Nami wound up the repaired music box and everyone enjoyed the happy tune in companionable silence, side by side with the best crew on the Grand Line.


	16. Blame It on the Rain, T

**Title:** Blame It on the Rain  
**Theme:** Set #03, #25 Weather  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 1591  
**Rating:** T (Just to be safe. There's some swearing.)  
**Warnings:** AU. Chopper is human, and I've played with the ages. (Still rather fluffy, though!)  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime. I don't think I've ever heard the whole Milli Vanilli song, but I yoinked the title...  
**A/N:** The city shall remain nameless, because I am lazy. "Sacred Heart" is probably the most common hospital name in existence, and also does not reference any specific hospital. Yes, this odd little AU will stretch over several themes.

Tony Chopper eyed the dark, roiling clouds as he hurried in the front entrance of Sacred Heart hospital. The rain hadn't started yet, but once it did, it was expected to be pretty bad and last through the rest of the week. That meant the hospital was going to be busy-there were always more accidents in the rain...

He was the only intern in the locker room when he changed into his scrubs, but that wasn't terribly surprising, since he was here early. He liked to take a few minutes to familiarize himself with any new patients on the floor. A few of the other student doctors were annoyed by his dedication. It wasn't his fault if they looked stupid because they couldn't satisfactorily answer Dr. Kureha's questions during rounds!

He was used to being alone anyway... He was younger than all of the other interns, and it had been the same throughout his education. On top of being a bit of a prodigy, he had a rare genetic disorder that made him look even smaller and younger. He was frequently dismissed as a "freak" by others near his own age and treated like a child by those older. He told himself he didn't care.

* * *

Officer Roronoa leaned back against the doorframe of the small convenience store and watched the foot traffic pass. He and his partner were on patrol, but he'd agreed to stop long enough for the other man to pick up a snack-or _ten_, knowing Luffy...

He took a deep breath, and a small smile briefly replaced his usual stern expression. The rain gave the city a fresh smell it never had at any other time.

He watched as a young girl and her mother crossed the street at a nearby crosswalk. A stray gust of wind caught her small pink umbrella, blowing it out of her grip and back into the street.

_Don't do it, kid!_ he thought frantically to himself as she pulled her hand free of her distracted mother's grip and darted out to retrieve the item. He pushed off the wall and hurried toward her at a run. The traffic light changed.

* * *

"Did you hear?" Tony pretended he wasn't listening to the other interns' conversation. The speaker sounded excited. "We've got a new patient on the floor today-they just transfered him up from the ICU!"

"The cop, right?" a female intern responded. "I can't believe he got hit by a car just this morning and they're already moving him up here! Must not have been very serious..."

"Not serious?" The first intern snorted. "Both his legs are _broken!_ I heard he was moved up here because he's conscious and belligerent. He's stable and they need the bed, so _we'll_ have to put up with him. Can you believe that?"

"I heard he's pretty hot, though..." Tony stopped listening at that point.

He didn't give it another thought until they all entered room 111 on rounds.

"How are we feeling this afternoon?" Dr. Kureha cackled when the patient glared at her.

"I still feel like shit. Piss off, you old bat..." Several interns gasped at the rude response. Dr. Kureha continued as though he had responded cheerfully.

"Has anyone had a chance to review this patient's chart? Who can give me a rundown of his injuries?"

No one seemed particularly eager to step forward. A few interns in the back were even edging closer to the door.

"I hate being talked about like I'm on display," the patient groused. "I have broken legs, two cracked ribs, internal bruising, and a mild concussion. Move on."

"Right." Kureha nodded. "Who can tell me the first step in the hospital's protocol for dealing with a belligerent patient?"

"The patient is to be informed that his or her behavior is unacceptable and be given an opportunity to explain their actions."

"Very good, Dr. Law. Who would like to demonstrate?" Again, no one seemed very interested. Tony looked at the grouchy man and decided he was mostly just annoyed and probably not really as scary as he seemed.

"Excuse me, sir." He stepped forward, resolved to not be cowed.

"Zoro."

"Eh?"

"I don't like being called 'sir,' or 'Officer Roronoa.' My first name is Zoro."

"Zoro, then. You were pretty rude just now. Would you like to tell me why?"

"No."

"Is it because you're in pain? Do you need some med-"

"Yeah, I'm in pain, but no, I don't want any meds. I _hate_ being drugged almost as much as I hate being _here!_ Besides, what are you, twelve?"

For the first time in years, Tony Chopper lost his temper.

"I have a hormonal condition, asshole! We're just trying to do our jobs, so deal with it!" His eyes widened after the outburst, and he hesitantly turned to see how much trouble he was in for this. Dr. Kureha was smiling! He turned back around when he heard laughing. It was the patient.

"You should keep this one around, Kureha," the injured officer announced, gingerly putting a hand to the side that must have the cracked ribs. "He's spunky! I'd like to take a nap now. Could you all get the hell out?"

After rounds, Tony approached Dr. Kureha in a break room. She had been somewhat of a mentor for him, and he was more comfortable talking with the rather harsh woman than anyone else in the hospital.

"It sounded like you knew the patient in 111." Chopper got right to the point. Dr. Kureha appreciated directness.

"Oh, him?" Kureha chuckled. "He's been in here before. Got himself shot a little over a year ago. He was just as pleasant then, too!"

"So, you picked him for rounds because you knew he'd be like that?" Now he felt even stupider for making a scene...

"I was glad to see you stand up for yourself in there, Dr. Chopper." Dr. Kureha put a hand on his shoulder as she left. "It's not good for you to bottle everything up like you do. That guy hates being coddled anyway."

* * *

Tony covered a huge yawn with one hand. He shook his head rapidly and furiously blinked both eyes. The long hours of an intern caught up with you after a while! There was a room with beds for the use of the interns when they were given sleep breaks, but it could get crowded and he didn't really like most of the other interns very much.

He spotted a door opened a crack with the lights off behind it. He peeked in and saw that the bed was unoccupied. They weren't supposed to use patient rooms, but he just needed a quick cat nap...

He probably wouldn't have gone in at all if he'd paid any attention to the room number: 111.

He had just curled up on a chair in the corner when a voice behind him all but gave him a heart attack.

"What are you doing?"

He expected to have been caught by a member of the staff, but when he turned it was to see the rude patient, up and about on crutches in the dark!

"Me? What are _you_ doing? You shouldn't be up at all, let alone without supervision! Where did you get those crutches?"

"The physical therapist left them behind earlier..." He narrowed his eyes at the doctor. "You're gonna report me for this, aren't you?"

"Why are you doing it in the dark? That's dangerous!"

"The nurses think I'm asleep," the patient admitted. "I just hate being stuck in that bed all the time!" Chopper could tell the man was overexerting himself, but he also recognized the expression on his face when he looked at the bed-despair.

"I won't tell anybody if you take a break and don't tell anyone that I snuck in here for a nap."

"Deal!" The man let out a soft hiss as he lowered himself back onto the bed. "Sorry about before." He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and looked away. "I know I'm a pain in the ass, and I shouldn't have insulted you about what's obviously a sensitive issue..."

"I shouldn't have called you an asshole, either."

"Why not? I was being one, wasn't I?" The patient chuckled. "How old are you really, Dr...?"

"You can call me Tony," he wracked his memory for the name he'd been given earlier, inordinately pleased when he recalled it, "_Zoro_. I'm actually twenty-one. I'm younger than all the other interns, but not by _that_ much."

"What say we _both_ take a quick nap?"

* * *

Over the next few days, Chopper spent most of his breaks in Room 111. Zoro proved to be someone other than Dr. Kureha to whom he could vent his frustrations. In turn, Zoro told him interesting stories from his job. The ones about his current partner were really funny!

On some level, Tony knew he shouldn't get too attached, since Zoro wasn't going to be in the hospital forever, but it was nice to have a friend.

More accidents happened in the rain, but as far as Tony Chopper was concerned, this had been a lucky one.


	17. Say Goodbye, T

**Title:** Say Goodbye  
**Theme:** Set #03, #15 Goodbye  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 1562  
**Rating:** T (Still a bit of swearing.)  
**Warnings:** AU. Chopper is human, and I've played with the ages. I'm mixing angst and fluff again... (Heavier on the angst.)  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime. I've decided to use a song title theme for these. This one's a rather sad song by Skillet, and I _have_ heard the whole thing. Milky Way candy bars are owned by the Mars candy company, and JELL-O is owned by Kraft.  
**A/N:** The city shall remain nameless, because I am lazy. "Sacred Heart" is probably the most common hospital name in existence, and also does not reference any specific hospital. Yes, this odd little AU will stretch over several themes.  
**A/N 2:** Please don't hate me for how this ends-there _is_ another part! Unless you _like_ angst. (You masochist, you!)

Tony Chopper hurried down the hallway, brown bag lunch gripped in one hand. He'd been kept a little late assisting in an operation, but he was pretty sure Zoro would still be eating his own lunch.

He paused in the act of opening the door to Zoro's room when he heard an annoyed female voice.

"What is _wrong_ with you, Zoro? I swear you're like some kind of injury magnet!"

"I'm feeling much better, Nami. Thanks for asking." Zoro's tone was both sarcastic and slightly amused.

"We all thought you'd be less likely to get yourself killed on a nice, safe beat than when you were working undercover, but _nooo!_ I bet if they put you behind a desk you'd manage to maim yourself with a _stapler_ or something..."

"Speaking of 'we,'" Zoro interrupted the woman's tirade, "didn't anyone else come to visit? Sanji's practically your shadow half the time, and I'm sure Luffy'd drop by, if only to yell at me for making an 'awesome rescue' without him. How's the girl, by the way?"

"She's fine." The woman chuckled in a way that almost sounded a little evil. "The captain promised her school that you'd come by when you're recovered and give a talk about crossing the street safely."

"Aw, _man_..."

"Oh, shut up! Everybody knows you like kids..." This time her laugh was less scary. "Sanji and Luffy _did_ come with me; they're down in the cafeteria, but they should be up any time now. Usopp _would_ have come, but he's visiting Kaya."

"That's okay; he's been planning that trip forever."

"Robin's busy finalizing everything for a sting operation, but she sent a card."

There was a rustling sound as Zoro presumably opened the envelope. This was followed by a long pause.

"This is a sympathy card..."

"You never _did_ get Robin's sense of humor!"

"Excuse me." The voice came from directly behind Tony, and he jumped. He turned to see a tall blond man with a cup of coffee in each hand. Tony stepped out of the way and the man knocked the door fully open with a small kick. "I brought you a coffee, Nami, just how you like it!"

"Thank you, Sanji!" Now Tony could see the woman. She had bright red hair and a sly expression.

"Nothing for me?" The blond man's demeanor changed from polite to gruffly annoyed at Zoro's question.

"You've got a drink on your lunch tray, shit head."

"I'd rather have coffee than a tiny, foil-topped juice cup," Zoro grumbled. His eyes wandered over to the doorway. He grinned. "Hey, Tony! Come on in!"

Tony shuffled in self-consciously and stood on the opposite side of the bed from the visitors.

"This is Nami and Sanji." Zoro gestured to each as he said their names. "We went through the academy together. My partner's supposedly here somewhere, too."

"He got distracted by a vending machine near the elevators," Sanji explained.

"Weren't you just at the cafeteria?" Nami asked, then sighed and shook her head. "Never mind, it's _Luffy_, after all..."

"Anyway, guys, this is Tony. He's probably the best intern they've got in this place."

Chopper felt his face redden. "I don't care if you really think that! Compliments don't make me happy at all!"

"So, Doc," Sanji asked with a chuckle, "how'd you get on this cranky moron's good side? He usually hates doctors."

Chopper fumbled for a suitable response, but Zoro beat him to it.

"He called me an asshole the first time we met."

Chopper was briefly mortified until he realized everyone else found it amusing.

"Seriously?" Sanji guffawed and took a sip of his coffee. "I'd love to have seen that..."

"Zoro!" a voice called from the doorway. A lanky, dark haired man entered, both arms waving wildly. A half-eaten candy bar was clutched in his right fist. "Did you know they make Milky Ways with _dark chocolate_ now?"

"Uh... No? They any good?"

"Hang on a sec." The man shoved the rest of the bar in his mouth and chewed contemplatively before swallowing. "They're okay. I think I like the other kind better. Can I have your jello?"

"Sure."

"_Awesome!_"

Zoro chuckled and rolled his eyes as the other man helped himself to the cup of lime gelatin. "Tony, this is Luffy, my partner. Luffy, this is Tony."

"Nice to meet ya!" Luffy held out a hand and then shook Tony's heartily when it was offered. "Are you Zoro's doctor?"

"No. I'm just an intern."

"When do you get out, Zoro?" Luffy asked. "They've been making me catch up on my paperwork while you're gone, and it's _so boring!_"

"The doc and my physical therapist talked with me this morning. I can go home in a couple days, but I won't be able to do much for awhile, and I'll have to come back here for regular physical therapy sessions. Is someone going to be able to pick me up, 'cause I can't drive."

Chopper found himself tuning out the rest of the conversation. Zoro was leaving! He'd known it would happen sooner or later, but it was still a shock.

He also felt a little out of place in the room. Obviously, Zoro had other friends-Chopper had heard stories about them-but it had been really nice when it was just him and Zoro...

"Tony." He looked up at the sound of his name and saw that everyone was looking at him. Zoro was sporting a concerned frown. "Are you okay? You kind of spaced out there for a minute..."

"I'm fine!" He forced a smile onto his face. "I'm just busy! Got a lot to think about, you know? I'd better be going."

"What about your lunch?" Zoro pointed at the bag he still held in his hand.

"I'm not very hungry; I'll eat it later." He hurried back out of the room before anything else could be said.

* * *

Tony studiously avoided Room 111 the next day. It was easier this way, right? It was _almost_ like it couldn't really happen if they never actually said "goodbye."

He knew he was being silly, and it saddened him to think that he may have upset Zoro by leaving suddenly and never explaining anything.

He waited until he was sure Zoro must have been discharged before he ventured to Room 111 again. The dry erase name plate had been wiped clean and the bed remade with fresh linen. He stared at the empty bed and willed his eyes not to water.

"What are you doing?" He nearly jumped out of his skin at the unexpected question. He whirled around to see Zoro standing there in street clothes, propped up by crutches, smiling at him. He couldn't help but smile back.

"What are _you_ doing?"

"I," Zoro paused to peek around the slightly cracked door, "am trying to outrun a mob of nurses with a wheelchair. You know, I think they're planning to have a party after they shove me out the door..."

"Maybe you should have been _nicer_," Tony chided playfully. Then he remembered why he was here. "I thought you'd already be gone."

"I couldn't leave without talking to you one more time, could I?"

"What's the point?" Tony snapped. "You're going to go home and then back to work. I'm here at the hospital pretty much all the time. We're probably never going to see each other again, and I hate goodbyes..." The tears were welling up anyway, despite his best efforts.

"We won't say it then," Zoro told him matter-of-factly. "Of course we'll see each other again! I have to come back for my PT, and you-no matter _what_ you say-have to spend _some_ time outside the hospital, right? Here." Zoro held out a scrap of paper. Tony took it and realized it had phone numbers scrawled on it. "The first one's my apartment and the second's my cell. I'm not very good about answering either, but you can always leave a message."

Tony was about to respond when the door was flung open with a dramatic "Aha!" by one of the nurses. Zoro was finally wrangled into the chair waiting in the hall, and he insisted that Tony walk with him on his way out.

Just before the automatic sliding doors closed behind him, Zoro turned and looked Tony straight in the eyes. "I'll be seeing you," he said firmly.

Tony watched as he eased himself into the passenger seat of a car waiting for him, and they drove away. Thunder rumbled and fat raindrops began to strike the glass entryway. He clutched the piece of paper in his hand. As much as part of him wanted to hope this wasn't the end, the rest of him was more realistic.

"Goodbye..."


	18. Hello Again, K

**Title:** Hello Again  
**Theme:** Set #03, #29 Cafe  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 1093  
**Rating:** G (Some of the songs have naughty lyrics, but I didn't quote them...)  
**Warnings:** AU. Chopper is human, and I've played with the ages. Back to chiefly fluffy. (Yay!)  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime. This song title is from a Neil Diamond song. I'm not a fan and haven't heard it, but the lyrics fit pretty awesomely! Other songs are mentioned in passing: "Legs" by ZZ Top, "I Touch Myself" by the Divinyls, and "Calling Dr. Love" by Kiss.  
**A/N:** The city shall remain nameless, because I am lazy. "Sacred Heart" is probably the most common hospital name in existence, and also does not reference any specific hospital. Last piece of the AU.

Tony thought about calling Zoro every day. He'd tell himself it was an awkward time of day, that he'd do it later, or that he didn't have anything interesting to say anyway. As time went on, guilt about not calling sooner joined the list.

It had been two months since Zoro had been discharged from Sacred Heart, and Tony hadn't seen or spoken to him since.

Tony's intern group had a fifteen hour break before they were required to be back at the hospital. He'd gone home to his small apartment and napped off and on for a few hours, but he was too restless to really sleep. He decided to take a walk and let his feet take him where they would.

He blinked and looked up when a raindrop landed right on his nose. He didn't recognize the neighborhood, but there was a cafe across the street and a hot coffee sounded nice.

He sat outside under a striped awning where he could listen to the patter of the rain on the fabric. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone to check for any messages. As he flipped the clamshell style phone open, a familiar and much abused scrap of paper fluttered to the tabletop.

Here he was, with actual free time for once! Maybe he should finally call today... He stared at the phone, fingers twitching slightly. Just as he was reaching for the keypad, a voice from behind startled him.

"Finally remember how to use one of those?"

His jaw dropped and he turned slowly. "_Zoro?_ What are you doing here?"

"My apartment's in the building across from here. I was on my way out and spotted you. Thought I'd say 'hi.'" Tony was still gaping at him. "So, uh... Hi?"

"Hi..." Tony blinked and shook his head to snap himself out of his daze. "I really _was_ just thinking about calling you! I'm sorry I haven't before now! I... I just..."

"Calm down!" Zoro chuckled and pulled out a chair. "I was joking earlier; I know you're a busy guy."

Not _that_ busy... Tony took a good look at his friend. He looked pretty healthy. "I see you got the right cast removed."

"Yeah, last week. I guess the left break was worse, so that one's still got some time."

"So... You already have plans for tonight? You said you were on your way out."

"Nothing big. I'm going to an old kung fu movie with some friends. You wanna come?"

"I wouldn't want to impose."

"You wouldn't be, and then you can meet Usopp. He was out of town when everyone else came to visit at the hospital. It'll be fun."

"I don't know..."

"The theater has cotton candy at the concessions stand..."

"Really?" Tony couldn't even remember what random conversation had prompted him to tell the other man his favorite junk food. Zoro sure had a good memory! "Shouldn't we be going then? What time is the movie?"

"Usopp and Luffy are going to come by and walk with us. I can never remember how to get to the theater."

"Zoro!" Tony recognized the voice as Zoro's partner. "And that doctor guy!" Luffy and a stranger that must be Usopp walked up to the table.

"His name is Tony." Zoro corrected. "Tony, you probably remember Luffy, and this is Usopp. He's a ballistics technician."

"Nice to meet you," Usopp greeted him.

"You left your cell at Usopp's place last night," Luffy chirped happily, tossing the phone to Zoro.

"You guys didn't mess with my ringtones again, did you? You _know_ it takes me forever to figure out how to fix them."

"Stop leaving your phone where we can get to it!" Usopp grinned mischievously.

Suddenly, said phone began playing part of the chorus of "Legs." Zoro raised one eyebrow at the two recent arrivals and answered.

"Hello? Yeah, we're on our way. So? Go save seats then. No one else cares where we sit, so if you think Nami _has_ to have a seat in the middle you only have to save _one!_ Take your jacket off or something... She is? Okay, okay. Keep your shirt on! Right back at you!"

"Sanji?" Usopp asked with a knowing smile as Zoro angrily punched the end call button.

"He wants us to hurry up so we can help him save seats. I guess Nami's bringing her friend Vivi, and Robin and Franky are coming, too."

Tony and Zoro stood up and they all began walking down the street. Zoro's phone rang again, but this time it was "I Touch Myself." Zoro glared daggers at Luffy and Usopp.

"If it's who I think it is, I am _not_ amused," Zoro threatened. "Hello? Yeah, I heard. Sanji just called. See you there." He hung up. The glare only intensified, and Tony was glad he hadn't been in on the prank. He looked questioningly at Luffy, who mouthed the name "Nami."

"Oh, come on," Usopp defended, desperately trying to choke back a laugh, "it was _funny!_" He squeaked and took off at a run, a very irritated Zoro limping on his heels. Luffy laughed merrily and joined the chase.

"Come on, Tony! Hurry up!" he called back over his shoulder. Tony couldn't help laughing himself as he ran to catch up with them.

* * *

Tony flopped down on his bed with a tired sigh. He looked over to his nightstand and smiled when he saw the ticket stub from the kung fu movie. His mood immediately lifted.

That had been one of the best afternoons he could remember. After the show, Usopp had invited him to come to the group's next game night, and everyone had insisted that he accept. Now it was almost hard to remember a time when he hadn't been part of the group!

Speaking of friends... He pulled out his cell and hit speed dial 1. It was pretty late, but the other party always seemed to be up at odd times, and it had become sort of a daily routine. He knew that, thanks to Usopp and Luffy, the other phone was currently playing "Calling Dr. Love."

"Hello?" Zoro's voice answered after a few rings.

"Hello!" It was quickly becoming one of Tony's favorite words.


	19. Sunscreen, K

**Title:** Sunscreen  
**Theme:** Set #03, #16 Mole  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 895  
**Rating:** G  
**Warnings:** Sap, fluff, and excessive sweetness!  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.

Sanji set the large plate of still warm brownies on the galley table. He picked up a separate plate he had prepared for Nami and Robin, slipping quickly out the door so as not to let out too much of the delicious smell. After his special delivery, he quietly informed everyone but the captain so they would have a chance to grab a piece before Luffy inhaled the rest of the midmorning snack.

Zoro was the last-besides Luffy, still sitting obliviously on the figurehead-to enter the galley since he'd wanted to finish a set of reps. He snagged a brownie and a large glass of water.

"It is _hot_ out there..." Zoro wasn't usually one to complain about the weather, but no one was going to disagree-the sun had been beating down on them mercilessly all morning.

"Thanks _so_ much for dragging yourself in here all sweaty, marimo," Sanji berated him as he walked over to the door. "Heads up, everyone." The others moved out of the direct path between the door and the table, some grabbing another brownie from the plate. Sanji opened the door and hollered, "_Luffy! Brownies!_"

"Awesome!" The word started out quietly and from a distance, rapidly getting closer and louder as Luffy launched himself at the galley door. The others turned away as he attacked the remaining brownies, partly because it was a rather horrific sight but mostly to protect their own snacks, drinks, and faces from flying brownie shrapnel.

Snacks eaten, everyone headed back to what they'd been doing previously.

* * *

Chopper emerged from the infirmary just before lunch with several small bottles. Zoro watched as he handed one to Nami and told her something, expression serious. She simply shrugged and accepted one of the bottles before settling back in her deck chair to sunbathe some more. When the doctor didn't walk away, she sighed and sat up again, pouring something from the bottle onto her palm and rubbing it on her skin.

Zoro was just turning to look away when he happened to lock eyes with Chopper, and the doctor hurried over.

"I made you some sunscreen too, Zoro. We're entering the worst part of the day for sun exposure, and too much sun can be very bad for you!"

"Chopper, I've never had a sunburn in my life," Zoro protested. "Not even in Arabasta!"

"You wore a head-covering in Arabasta!"

"So?" Zoro turned back to his weights, despite the disapproving frown Chopper was leveling at his back. Suddenly the doctor gasped.

"What now?" Zoro turned back around to look at Chopper.

"That mole on the back of your neck doesn't look good..." Chopper really did seem worried.

"Mole?" Zoro frowned. "What mole? I don't _have_ any moles..."

"That's even _worse!_" Chopper lamented. "A sudden change like that could indicate a serious problem like skin cancer!"

"Seriously?" Zoro hated to admit it, but Chopper was _almost_ starting to make him worry... "Moles can just appear like that?"

"Yes, they can! That one's pretty large, so it's odd that you haven't noticed it before, but it _is_ on the back of your neck..."

Zoro reached a hand back to his neck and Chopper hurried around behind him again.

"Let me look at it closer, Zoro!"

Zoro ignored him, sliding his fingertips over the back of his neck. Surely he would have noticed a mole large enough for Chopper to see from several feet away, right? He paused as his hand slid across a raised bump and frowned when he couldn't feel his finger on it like he could with the rest of his neck. He pinched it between his thumb and index finger and it peeled off rather reluctantly. He set the brown object in the palm of his other hand, and he and Chopper both stared at it.

"Well, it's _not_ a mole," Zoro mused. "What _is_ it?"

"I'm not sure," Chopper admitted. He leaned in closer and his nose twitched. "It smells like... chocolate?"

"_Eeew..._" they chorused as both realized it was a piece of brownie! Zoro flicked it off his hand.

"I'm glad it wasn't really anything bad." The doctor sighed in relief.

Zoro was relieved, too. He knew he often neglected certain aspects of his own health, and he was lucky to have Chopper around to keep an eye on him. He also hated the idea of Chopper sitting around worrying needlessly...

"Okay, fine, give me one of those." He held out a hand and Chopper gave him a bottle.

"You'll need to reapply it frequently, especially if you'll be sweating."

"_What?_ That's really going to be a pain..."

"You'll do it though, right?" Zoro wondered if training existed to build up resistance to Chopper's concerned-doctor-who-is-also-your-friend face.

"Yeah."

"Great! See you at lunch!"

The swordsman watched Chopper trot away much happier than he'd been when he approached. Zoro decided he was probably too far gone for training to help anyway...


	20. Lessons, K

**Title:** Lessons  
**Theme:** Set #03, #17 Dance  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 1193  
**Rating:** G  
**Warnings:** Sap, fluff, and excessive sweetness!  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.

Chopper made a frustrated sound as he accidentally tipped more of an ingredient into his mortar than he'd intended. Mixing up a fresh batch of rumble balls was supposed to be _relaxing_ him! He pushed the mixture to one side. Maybe he could find a use for it later.

He wandered out into the galley in time to hear Nami and Robin discussing the very thing from which he'd been trying to distract himself.

"What color gown do you think I should wear?" Nami was asking the older woman. "I can't decide! It's so exciting-a real ball!"

"You look like a beautiful princess _every_ day, Nami-swan!" Sanji offered his own opinion as he set cups of tea and a plate of petit fours in front of the ladies.

"That's sweet, Sanji-kun," Nami told him with an indulgent smile, "but it doesn't help me pick a color."

"A pastel shade would suit your fair complexion," Robin mused. She noticed Chopper skulking toward the door. "What do you think, Doctor?"

"I don't know. I like pink, I guess." He continued to edge toward the door.

"Maybe," Nami conceded. "Thanks for getting us invited Chopper!"

"Don't mention it," he replied as he slipped outside. He really meant it, too!

The island at which they were currently moored was inhabited by a medieval society. The youngest princess had been very ill for some time, and as a doctor, Chopper had felt compelled to offer his assistance. Chopper was appalled to find that she was being treated with blood-letting and dubious potions when she could have been easily treated with the proper medication. The royal family had been thrilled at her quick recovery and were holding a ball both to celebrate her good health and to honor Chopper.

Chopper had at first been pleased-"I don't need any special thanks, you jerks! I'm not happy!"-until the shy, young princess had asked him if he would honor her with a dance.

Chopper didn't know how to dance! It was irrelevant to a doctor's training, so Doctorine had never mentioned it, and he seriously doubted any of the dancing he did with Luffy and Usopp would be appropriate at a royal ball. He was certain he was going to embarrass himself and the rest of the crew.

He flopped himself over the deck railing and sighed mournfully.

"You sure don't _sound_ like a medical miracle worker that just saved somebody's life." Zoro leaned on the rail next to him. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Zoro raised a doubtful eyebrow at that. "Nothing _you_ could probably help with anyway..."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Zoro was indignant. Great, now he'd gone and made Zoro angry with him on top of everything else!

"I wasn't trying to be mean," Chopper defended. Zoro still looked skeptical, so Chopper took a deep breath and decided to admit his problem. "The princess wants me to dance with her at the ball, but I don't know how! I'm going to make us look stupid..."

"You're wrong," Zoro stated simply.

"No, I'm not! I really _don't_ know how to dance properly!"

"Not about _that._" Zoro quickly looked around the deck to make sure they were alone. He leaned in close to continue in a conspiratorial whisper. "I _can_ help you." The swordsman pushed off the rail and walked away. "Meet me in the crow's nest in an hour and I'll show you. Besides, making us look stupid in public is already covered by several people on this crew."

Chopper was left rather stunned. Was Zoro _serious?_ There was only one way to find out...

* * *

When Chopper pushed through the trap door of the gym an hour later, he expected to find Zoro there alone, so he was a little surprised to find Brook there as well. He looked questioningly at Zoro, who shrugged.

"We're going to need music," Zoro explained. "Brook has been sworn to secrecy."

"On my honor as a swordsman, my lips are sealed, though I have none! Yo ho ho!" Chopper giggled at the skull joke; Zoro just rolled his eyes.

"It'll be easier for me to teach you if we're closer to the same size," Zoro told him. "You should probably be in heavy point." Chopper shifted as asked. He noticed that several areas on the floor mats had been marked with tape in square and square-like shapes.

"I'm going to teach you the waltz because it's pretty basic and popular." Chopper turned back to Zoro. "How's your sense of rhythm?"

They spent the next couple of hours working at it, and by the time Sanji hollered up that dinner was ready, Chopper was pretty sure he at least wouldn't trip over his own feet.

"What were you three _doing_ up there?" Sanji asked as they all walked to the galley. "Did I hear music?"

"None of your business." Zoro shrugged off the questions.

* * *

After dinner, Chopper approached Zoro again.

"Thanks for everything!" He really was genuinely grateful! "How do you know all that anyway?"

"Dancing is good exercise, and it improves coordination, endurance, and flexibility." Chopper didn't look fully convinced by the explanation. "Also, I had a mean, female cousin that wanted to take a class, but no other guy would go with her because she was scary."

"Oh."

"Hey, Chopper?"

"Yes?"

"The most important thing for you to remember is that you're supposed to have fun. This ball is a celebration, so enjoy yourself, okay?"

"Okay." Chopper smiled at his friend. "I will!"

* * *

During his waltz with the princess, Chopper noted that she had an expression of intense concentration on her face the whole time, and she stepped on his toes once or twice. Afterward she looked a little sad.

"I'm sorry I'm such an awful dancer!" the young girl apologized, blushing in embarrassment. "My dancing tutor says I have two left feet!"

"It's okay," Chopper tried to reassure her. He heard the orchestra strike up a lively tune and had an idea. "Let's dance again!"

"I don't know how to dance this one," she protested.

"Neither do I," Chopper admitted, "but we should be having fun. Come on!"

He dragged the girl back onto the dance floor. He stood facing her with both his front hooves held in her hands. He began skipping in a circle to the music, ignoring the disapproving looks from some of the other guests. Soon she was skipping right along with him, giggling merrily, and he knew it had been a good plan.

He scanned the crowd, picking out the happy faces of his crew, including a smiling Zoro, standing off to one side with his arms crossed over his chest. The swordsman dipped his head in a nod of approval.

Dancing wasn't really such a big deal after all!


	21. Bent, T

**Title:** Bent  
**Theme:** Set #03, #18 Steel  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 1660  
**Rating:** T (For safety, as there's a little swearing and other unpleasantness.)  
**Warnings:** The usual plus a bit of angst, some h/c while I'm at it, and OOC, drugged Zoro...  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.

Chopper flailed weakly and rolled around in his bindings. He couldn't be sure whether he'd really worked the chains looser or if it was just his imagination.

He hadn't heard any noise from the room where they had taken Zoro for a long time, and he was very worried about his friend's welfare.

He wriggled again and was pleased to find that he had indeed worked one loop of chain off of himself.

"I'm coming, Zoro," he mumbled. "Just hold on a little longer!"

* * *

This island had a very prominent marine base. The crew would have been content to remain moored in a hidden sea cave on the far side of the island, only venturing ashore long enough to set the log pose, but they needed to restock crucial supplies.

No one was permitted to leave the ship alone, and disguises were required. After Sanji and Usopp had returned from their supply run unharmed, it had been Chopper's turn. Zoro had volunteered to accompany him.

Nami had insisted that Zoro leave his swords behind, because they were almost as recognizable as the swordsman himself. Zoro had refused to set foot on the island completely unarmed, and he talked Nami into letting him bring a cutlass that had been abandoned on deck after one of the crew's many skirmishes.

Chopper wasn't sure what had given them away, but they were ambushed as soon as they left the local apothecary. Zoro had been taken down by a sedative dart while blocking another meant for Chopper. A well-aimed, seastone-laced net subdued the doctor. The captured pirates were hauled back to the marine base.

The marines' lone set of seastone cuffs were too large for brain point Chopper's wrists, but they proved just as effective when the chain between the manacles was wrapped around him and secured. Zoro had started recovering from his sedation far more quickly than their captors expected, but Chopper wasn't at all surprised.

Perhaps hoping to instill a bit of fear, the marine captain had begun loudly discussing interrogation plans in front of them. Zoro must have noticed Chopper's subtle efforts to worm his way out of the chains because he calmly volunteered to go first, sharing a pointed look with Chopper as he was led away.

* * *

The doctor gave a victorious cry as he kicked the last bit of chain away. He crawled a short distance away from the shackles and lay there, panting weakly, but he could already feel his strength coming back.

His purchases had been confiscated along with Zoro's weapon, but the marines had rather stupidly not searched Chopper personally. He had a rumble ball in his pocket that he planned to save for the final escape.

Chopper was insulted to find that they hadn't even left a guard outside the _unlocked_ room where he was being held. Clearly, he was not being treated as a serious threat. He made himself a silent promise that his opponents were going to regret that!

He hurried down the hall to his right, following Zoro's familiar scent. He pressed his back against the wall next to a doorway when he heard the marine captain's voice from within the room.

"Obviously there's something wrong with that truth serum!" The man sounded very annoyed. "Are you certain it was prepared properly?"

"Yes, sir! Maybe he has a resistance to one of the components..."

"Dose him again!"

"I don't think that's a good idea," a third voice intruded. "He's already had three, and he's barely lucid as it is."

Chopper didn't need to hear any more.

"Rumble!"

The marine captain, another marine, and a man in a white lab coat gaped in surprise as Chopper dashed into the room.

"Jumping point!" He leapt high into the air, landing right in the middle of the group of three men. "Guard point!" He sent them all flying.

Chopper shifted back to brain point and hurried over to Zoro. He was slumped over in a chair, arms tied behind the back.

"Zoro! Are you okay?"

"No." Zoro's voice was quiet, and the words were a little slurred. "I am really, _really_ not..."

Chopper lifted Zoro's chin so he could look at his face. His eyes were half-lidded and unfocused. It didn't look like he was going to be able to walk on his own.

"Heavy point!" Chopper snapped the rope binding Zoro's arms. He slung the man across his shoulders. "Walk point!" Now Zoro was laying across his back. He hoped Zoro would be able to hang on!

Chopper dashed down the halls of the base, using the natural agility of his current form to dodge attacks. He was sure the rumble ball had worn off by now, so they needed to get far away fast!

Once out the main gate, Chopper just kept running. He could feel his heart pounding in his throat, but he didn't want to give the marines a chance to catch up to them.

"Chopper!" Zoro's voice had an urgent tone to it. "Stop for a minute!"

He obediently slid to a stop and Zoro scrambled off his back and over to some nearby bushes where he was promptly and violently ill.

Chopper realized that they were in a woody area outside the town. They could probably cut across the island to return to the Thousand Sunny, and Chopper was more comfortable hiding in a forest than among the buildings of a town.

Zoro spat one last time, ran the back of his hand across his mouth, and tried to stand, but he swayed rather alarmingly. He sat back down on the ground.

"We should keep going," Chopper urged gently.

"I hate being dragged around, but I'm obviously not walking on my own. Sorry."

Chopper realized that the drug must still be affecting Zoro, because the swordsman never liked to admit any weakness. Chopper decided not to say anything about it, moving closer so that a shaky Zoro could climb back onto his back. They continued onward in a heavy silence.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to get to you," Chopper finally said. "I knew they couldn't break you, though."

Zoro laughed harshly. "But they _did_ break me. I wouldn't talk, so they drugged me. I answered their questions, but they didn't believe me, so they drugged me _again_..." Now the laugh was hysterical, bordering on sobbing.

Chopper stopped again, shrugging Zoro off and switching to heavy point. He grabbed Zoro's shoulders and shook him gently, then a little harder when he got no response. "Snap out of it!"

Zoro blinked. He looked truly embarrassed by the outburst.

"What did you tell them?" Chopper asked. He realized it actually _might_ break Zoro if he thought he'd put the rest of the crew in danger.

"They wanted to know where the rest of the crew were," Zoro answered numbly. "You know what I told them? I said I didn't know, because I really _don't_ know where the hell we left the ship! They thought I was being a wise ass, but it was the truth. I'm lucky they didn't ask anything else..."

Chopper felt a pang of sympathy. Zoro hadn't told the marines anything they could use, but he still felt like he had betrayed the crew by talking, even though he had been drugged. He probably also felt like he was weak for giving in to the chemicals when there really wasn't any choice in the matter.

"Zoro, look at me." He used one large hand to turn Zoro's face back toward himself. "They _didn't_ break you." Zoro opened his mouth to protest, but Chopper cut him off. "They _couldn't_ break you, so they had to cheat. Even then they couldn't, because you're like your swords. You're tempered steel. You've been through fire to make you stronger and they might be able to bend you a little, but you _won't_ break."

Zoro slumped forward, exhausted by the drugs, the ordeal, and his earlier hysterics.

"Tempered steel, huh?" Zoro asked as Chopper picked him up and started walking again. "You know what you are?"

"No." Chopper decided to humor him. It sounded like he was going to pass out any time now. "What?"

"You're fire. Not the kind you were talking about, that the steel has to pass through to become strong. You're the fire in the forge for repairing a blade. The heat helps the metal return to its proper form after its been damaged. That's you..."

Chopper looked down to see that Zoro was indeed asleep. His face looked calm and there was even a small smile quirking the corners of his mouth. Chopper let out a sigh of relief; everything was going to be fine.

* * *

Zoro was still asleep when they got back to the ship. The doctor shushed the rest of the concerned crew and walked to the boys' cabin to place Zoro in his bunk. Chopper led the others back out on deck where he was assaulted by a barrage of questions. He quickly related a brief and selective account of their capture and escape.

"The log pose is set, right?" Nami nodded. "We should go."

"What about the medical supplies?" Nami wasn't happy that Chopper's purchases had been lost, especially if it meant they would be unprepared in an emergency.

"I think I can manage until the next island."

"Is Zoro okay?" Luffy asked, seconded by all the others.

"He's going to be fine," Chopper reassured them. "He can't be broken by a few marines."

Zoro _wasn't_ broken-just a little bent, and Chopper was there to help fix him.


	22. Talking Turkey, K plus

**Title:** Talking Turkey  
**Theme:** Set #03, #22 Master  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 929  
**Rating:** G/PG  
**Warnings:** Mild bird-related violence. Silliness.  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.  
**A/N:** I researched turkey calls for authenticity, but they're kind of hard to describe in words! Also, it seems all my wildlife related stuff has to do with mating...

A shadowy smudge on the horizon heralded the next stop. It was first spotted just after breakfast, and they made landfall just before lunch.

The crew split up after the meal to explore the uninhabited autumn island while they waited for the log pose to set.

Luffy, Brook, and Franky drew the short lots for the ship watch, but after seeing Luffy's devastated expression, the crew had agreed that the three could take turns watching the ship and scouting the beach.

Robin, Nami, and Sanji made up the second group. Nami planned to head for the higher ground to the east of the island, where she would have a good perspective for surveying. Sanji volunteered to carry her equipment, and Robin was interested to see the island from above, hoping to spot any signs of possible past civilizations.

This left Usopp, Zoro, and Chopper in the third group. They planned to forage for supplies in the dense, deciduous forest of the island's western end.

Zoro trudged through the underbrush behind the other two. Chopper was listening intently to some outlandish tale of Usopp's that Zoro had stopped paying attention to ages ago. His pack was already mostly full of fruit, berries, tuberous vegetables, and a few medicinal plants that Chopper had identified. The only thing they hadn't come across yet was a source of meat. Then he thought he heard a familiar sound...

"Oi!" Zoro called out in a low voice. "Hush." He stopped the others before they entered a small clearing just ahead.

Usopp swallowed nervously. "What is it, Zoro? Not trouble, I hope? Not that Captain Usopp is unprepared for the worst or anything..."

"I thought I heard something," Zoro explained. "Might have been wild turkeys, but I'm not sure."

"You're in luck!" Usopp struck a dramatic pose. "I am a master of bird calls! I can imitate any species, and they are irresistibly drawn to me!"

"_Really,_ Usopp?" Chopper's eyes sparkled. "Do a turkey call!"

Usopp made a show of clearing his throat before emitting an odd warbling sound. It was answered by utter silence.

"That didn't really sound like a turkey," Chopper observed with a small frown. "It didn't really make any sense, either. It was kind of like gibberish..."

"It's a, uh, special universal call for flightless birds!"

"Wild turkeys _can_ fly," Zoro told him.

"Did I say flightless? I meant to say _mostly_ flightless!"

"Uh huh. _Sure_..."

Usopp ignored the gibe and tried his call again. Still nothing.

"Let me try!" Chopper placed his hooves to either side of his mouth to funnel the sound and let out a short, high squawk. He didn't receive an answer, either.

"What did you say?" Zoro asked.

"I said, 'Hello,' but I don't think that's going to work..."

"It definitely sounded more like a turkey than Usopp."

"Hey!" Usopp glared at Zoro indignantly. "I'd like to see _you_ try and do better!"

"I can, if you want." Zoro shrugged. "I used to have to catch all my own meals. You just have to listen, learn the right kind of call, and repeat it. It's not that hard."

"Show us!" Chopper cheered. "I want to hear your turkey call!"

"I haven't done this in a while, so it might not be very good." Zoro took a deep breath and let out a series of high, barking clucks that sounded almost like something rubbing on glass, followed by low clucking interspersed with trilling purrs. Usopp's eyes widened, and he was about to comment when Chopper burst into a fit of giggles.

"That bad?" Zoro asked.

"No!" Chopper managed to gasp between laughs. "That was... _amazing!_"

"What's so funny then?"

Chopper took several deep, calming breaths. "You sounded _exactly_ like a turkey hen saying, 'Come a little closer, big boy!'"

"I take it back!" Usopp hooted. "_Zoro_ is the master of the irresistible turkey call!"

Now both Chopper and Usopp were laughing hysterically. Zoro felt his face redden. As the icing on the cake, an answering call came from across the clearing.

"Do it again!" Chopper giggled. "You have his attention!"

"Why should I?" Zoro knew he was sulking, but he didn't care. "You guys are just going to scare it off with all your laughing..."

"We'll be quiet!" Usopp insisted. "We promise!" The younger boys both plastered their hands-and hooves-across their mouths.

Zoro rolled his eyes and gave the call again. Luffy would be disappointed if there wasn't any meat, after all! Sure enough, a large tom turkey strutted out into the clearing, tail fully fanned.

Usopp took down the bird with a lead star, and Zoro had one more thing to carry on the way back. He was also now Chopper's new center of attention, and Usopp was the one hanging back, an amused smirk on his face.

"What other bird calls can you do? Can you do any other animals? Have you ever tried one that _didn't_ work?" Chopper paused long enough to take a breath. "Could you teach me? Did you have to practice for a long time?"

He had to admit it was kind of nice to be admired for his apparent talent, but still... This had better be one _tasty_ turkey!


	23. Pros and Cons, K

**Title:** Pros and Cons  
**Theme:** Set #03, #19 Thorn  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 732  
**Rating:** G  
**Warnings:** Sap, fluff, and excessive sweetness.  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.

Zoro couldn't help letting a slight hiss escape as he pulled the last burr out of his pant leg. That one had hooked some skin...

The crew had been forced to beat a hasty retreat off of the last island to avoid a crew of marines. They'd lost their pursuers by running through a thick patch of underbrush that had unfortunately been full of barbed seed pods.

Zoro surveyed the scene in front of him. Robin, who had been on ship watch and avoided the burrs altogether, was distracting Luffy from "helping" anyone else remove the prickly hitchhikers. Franky hadn't picked up as many burrs, due to his metal front, and he was manning the helm to the slightly distracted directions of Nami as she carefully worked bristly seeds out of Brook's precious afro. Sanji was similarly employed helping Usopp. Chopper was nowhere to be found.

Frowning, Zoro set out to find the ship's doctor. The logical first place to look was the infirmary, but the door was locked. He could hear muffled cursing from behind it.

"Chopper?" He called through the door. "You okay in there?"

"Don't come in here!" Chopper yelled back. "Just go away!"

Zoro might have done just that, if the next sound from Chopper's side of the door hadn't been a whimper.

"Open the door, Chopper." It came out more like a command than a request and was met with defiant silence. "I can break it down, you know."

Zoro heard slow shuffling accompanied by more swearing. There was a clicking sound and the door opened just wide enough for Zoro to see a sliver of Chopper's face.

"If I let you in, you have to promise you won't laugh."

"I promise."

The door slid open farther, allowing Zoro to enter, then Chopper quickly shut it again. Zoro got his first good look at the doctor. The poor guy was covered in burrs from head to toe! It was certainly no laughing matter. Zoro bit back a sympathetic sound that Chopper might take as pity, since he probably wouldn't appreciate it.

"My fur was like a burr magnet," Chopper answered the unvoiced question. "I can't get a good grip on them with my hooves, but if I try and shift to heavy point, they pull..."

Zoro realized that Chopper was about as likely to directly ask for assistance as the swordsman himself, so he simply walked over, knelt down, and began pulling burrs free. He couldn't think of anything to say, so he worked in silence.

"Sometimes I hate being covered in fur," Chopper confessed softly. "It doesn't seem fair! Human zoans have a form without fur, but even my heavy point is hairy..."

"It may be a thorn in your- Uh..." Zoro mentally kicked himself for his word choice. "It's _annoying_ today, but there are good things about your fur too, right? You've used your guard point to get out of some tough situations before, and you never have to worry about the cold when we're on a winter island."

"I guess..."

"There are some things we just can't change, no matter how hard we try." Zoro turned Chopper around to work on the other side. "All you can do is make the best of it, or use it as a reminder that nobody's perfect."

"Or use it as motivation to train harder?" Chopper asked with a sly grin.

"Ha ha, smarty pants." Zoro grinned back. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah. Thanks." The room was quiet again for a while.

"There!" Zoro announced, giving Chopper a quick once over for any burrs he may have missed. He absently scratched at his right leg. Now that he wasn't focussing on Chopper's fur, he realized that he was itchy _all over..._

"Stop scratching!" Chopper scolded him. "You'll only make it worse! Some of the plants we ran through may have given you a rash. I'll make up some ointment for you."

Zoro willed himself not to scratch again until he was outside the infirmary. Chopper stopped him at the door.

"Can you ask if anyone else is itchy?"

"Sure. How come it's not bugging you?"

"I guess it's another plus to being furry," Chopper suggested with a shrug. "Animals don't react to poison ivy."

"Lucky you, huh?" Zoro chuckled.

"Sure," Chopper agreed with a small smile. "Lucky me."


	24. Passive Aggressive, K

**Title:** Passive Aggressive  
**Theme:** Set #03, #11 Water  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 805  
**Rating:** K  
**Warnings:** I got nothin' this time...  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.

Zoro tried to sit patiently as Chopper plastered small bandages to the multiple small puncture wounds on his torso. The doctor muttered something in his general direction that Zoro couldn't quite understand.

"Huh?" he asked.

Chopper leveled a glare at him that would have been much more effective if he were less cute. "I _said_, 'I wish you would _dodge_ more.' Sometimes I'm not sure you even know _how!_"

"I dodge _sometimes_," Zoro retorted indignantly. "There are situations where it makes sense to take a hit!"

"_A_ hit?" Chopper gestured at Zoro's upper body. "Exactly how many opponents were you fighting because _I_ only saw the _one._"

"He was really fast with those throwing spikes of his, and _some_ of us can't just shrink in midair!"

They stared each other down for a moment.

"All I'm saying is you should spend more time working on _defense_," Chopper finally said, "and not just _offense_ all the time."

"It's kinda hard to practice defensive moves without a sparring partner, and Sanji doesn't usually throw things when we fight each other."

"I could throw things at you."

Zoro blinked. Had Chopper really just said that? "Say _what?_" he asked for the sake of clarification.

"I meant that I'll help you train at dodging things," Chopper explained. "It would be extra training for you, fun for me, and less money spent on bandages in the long run, so everybody wins!"

Zoro had to admit that new methods of training were rarely a _bad_ thing, and if it would get Chopper off his back for a while...

"Fine. If it means that much to you, we can train for a while after lunch tomorrow."

"Excellent," Chopper agreed with what Zoro might have called an evil chuckle if he didn't know Chopper was incapable of such things. "I can be ready by then."

"Can I go now?"

"Sure." Zoro got up to leave but paused in the doorway as Chopper called out one last thing. "You might want to bring a towel tomorrow."

* * *

When Zoro found Chopper waiting on the lawn deck the next afternoon, the reindeer was sitting behind several baskets of small, brightly-colored, round objects. Once he got a little closer he realized what they were-water balloons!

"So, Zoro, are you ready?" Chopper asked with a grin.

"What in the-" _Splat!_ A water balloon hit Zoro square in the face before he could finish his sentence. "_Oi!_"

"An enemy probably isn't going to wait for you to be ready, now are they?" Chopper giggled at Zoro's soggy glare. _Splat! Splat! Splat!_ "They certainly won't wait for you to recover, either!"

Zoro pulled a piece of balloon off of his face. "When I get over there, you're going to be sorr-" _Splat!_

"Maybe, but you'll have to get over here first!"

Zoro growled under his breath and fell back a pace, balancing on the balls of his feet and watching Chopper warily. He managed to dodge the next few balloons and made it a few steps forward, then slipped on some wet grass. Chopper nailed him with two more balloons while he was down.

Zoro surged back to his feet and darted forward in a zig-zag pattern. The closer he got to his target, the less time he had to dodge, so he had to be completely focused. He bent backward to evade one of Chopper's tosses, avoiding it so narrowly that he felt a slight breeze as the projectile sailed past. He heard it hit something behind him with a familiar _splat!_

"Hey..." Chopper paused mid-throw, and Zoro turned to see a newly soaked Usopp standing next to Luffy on the far side of the lawn. "What was that for?" Usopp wondered.

"Sorry, Usopp," Chopper apologized with a casual shrug. "You were collateral damage."

"No fair!" Luffy stretched his arms out to pull one of the baskets full of balloons over to himself. "You guys are having a water balloon fight without us!"

Zoro did _not_ want to be pinned down on both sides. He dove and rolled, coming to a stop next to Chopper.

"Truce?"

"Okay," Chopper agreed. "For _now..._"


	25. Crafty, K

**Title:** Crafty  
**Theme:** Set #03, #10 Hook  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 936  
**Rating:** G  
**Warnings:** Sap, fluff, and excessive sweetness.  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.  
**A/N:** I don't _really_ want to break Zoro's legs! Honest!

"_How_ long?" Zoro gaped at the doctor.

"Possibly as long as two months," Chopper repeated. "Once the bone sets, we can remove the traction, but fractures of the femur can be tricky..."

"What am I supposed to do in here all day?" Zoro scowled at his right leg, currently held in place by a system of weights and pulleys on a frame Franky built to Chopper's specifications. The rest of him lay on the infirmary bed.

The limb had been broken during a fight with an eel-like sea king. Luffy had landed a Gum Gum Bazooka to the giant fish's face, causing the beast to thrash, and the end section of its tail slammed into Zoro's thigh, snapping the bone.

"I don't know," Chopper admitted. "Do you have any busywork you need to finish?"

"Not _two months'_ worth..."

"Is there anything I can bring in here for you?"

Zoro thought about the question for a moment. He fingered a tear in his haramaki.

"I've got some mending supplies in my locker. They're in a box-just bring the whole thing."

It took Chopper a little longer than Zoro expected to return with the requested box, and Zoro was both surprised and rather touched when he saw why. The doctor had also stopped by the gym and picked up two of Zoro's smaller hand weights and his sword polishing supplies.

Chopper handed Zoro the box, setting the other items aside. Zoro removed his haramaki and laid it across his lap. He flipped the lid of the box open and rummaged for a moment, finally taking out a small ball of green yarn, a large, blunt needle, and a slender object with a hook at the end that Chopper had never seen before.

"What's that?" he asked.

"It's a crochet hook," Zoro told him. "I'll be using it to weave in the loose ends, but you can make stuff with it, too."

"What kind of stuff?"

"If you're good at it, you can make all kinds of things. I made myself a scarf once, but that's about all I can do."

"Could you make one for me? It would give you something to do..."

"I guess I could, but I'll need more yarn." Zoro gestured at his mending yarn. "That's all I have."

* * *

They made landfall at an island two days later, and Chopper sought out a craft supply store as soon as he finished shopping for medical supplies.

There was an entire wall covered with shelves of yarn in all colors and textures. He just stood and stared for a moment.

"Can I help you find something?" a cheerful employee of the shop inquired.

"I'm looking for yarn for a scarf..."

"What sort of scarf were you thinking about? You'll want to be sure to select a yarn that works with the pattern."

"Pattern?" Weren't all scarves more or less the same shape? The woman gestured to a rack full of pamphlets and books that Chopper soon discovered were instructions for all sorts of things. There were scarves, sweaters, hats, mittens, socks, and one guaranteed to keep a bedridden swordsman busy for a long, long time...

* * *

Chopper let out a relieved breath as he set down the very large, very heavy bag of yarn.

"Dang, Chopper... How many scarves do you _need?_"

"Just the one," Chopper insisted. He dug around in the bag for a moment before fishing out a skein of soft, pink yarn. "This one's for my scarf, and the rest are for this." He handed the book he'd found in the shop to Zoro.

"A blanket?" Zoro eyed the cover of the book skeptically.

"There are _all kinds_ of patterns for different squares in there, and you can combine them! Some of them looked pretty challenging, so it should help pass the time..." Chopper trailed off when he noticed that Zoro _still_ didn't seem excited-or even very interested-by the idea. "_I_ thought it was cool."

"Thanks, Chopper." Zoro flipped through the book absently. "I guess I'm just not a very artsy person..."

"Oh." Chopper's face fell. "I suppose I can return it-"

"_So_," Zoro interrupted him, "I'd need someone else to help me decide which squares to use, what colors, and stuff like that. How about it?"

"I don't need you to cheer me up, you big jerk!" Chopper wriggled gleefully, grinning like mad. "Helping you out won't make me happy at all!"

* * *

Chopper decided that Zoro's leg was set nicely after about six weeks. The swordsman had, predictably, decided he needed to start catching up on all his missed training as soon as he was allowed up on his feet. Chopper had to supervise, of course.

Sanji rubbed his hands together and blew on them as he walked up the stairs to the deck above the galley. They were sailing through a winter climate zone, and he had prepared some hearty noodle soup for lunch. Zoro and Chopper hadn't shown up when everyone else did.

The first thing Sanji saw as his head cleared the top of the stairs was a wooly lump of bright colors and loud patterns. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the two missing crew members, napping all snuggled up beneath a rather ugly blanket.

Sanji decided not to wake them. He'd just save some soup for them on the back burner...


	26. Interference, T

**Title:** Interference  
**Theme:** Set #03, #5 Den Den Mushi  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 1051  
**Rating:** PG-13 (Swearing...)  
**Warnings:** Nothin' much. A little cursing.  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.  
**Super Long A/N:** This references events in "Bent" but stands alone. Since Den Den Mushi use radio waves, and it is possible to accidentally pick up radio transmissions intended for another party, it seems reasonable to me that someone could get a "wrong number" call. Also, feel free to tell me if you know the actual phonetic spelling of the Den Den Mushi sounds, because I just wrote it how I hear it. Also also, I'm not entirely sure of Tashigi's current rank.

After the incident where Zoro and Chopper were taken prisoner, the crew had decided that carrying baby Den Den Mushi with them when they separated while ashore was probably a good idea.

Chopper needed to do some extra supply shopping after a particularly long trip between stops, aggravated by various injuries on the way. Zoro went along ostensively to help carry things, but chiefly because the port was kind of a rough town.

_Ba-dup ba-dup ba-dup..._

Chopper glanced over to see Zoro looking around bemusedly. He wasn't used to the noises Den Den Mushi made when they rang and was apparently unsure of the origin of the sound.

_Ba-dup ba-dup ba-dup..._

"I think it's the baby Den Den Mushi," Chopper told him.

"Ah." Zoro pulled the small Den Den Mushi from his haramaki and lifted the receiver. "Hello?"

"Commodore Smoker, sir?" a male voice asked doubtfully.

Zoro clapped a hand over the mouthpiece as a series of thoughts raced through his mind:

_Oh shit! Smoker finally caught up to us! If _he's_ here, so is _she_... Why are they calling this Den Den Mushi?_

"Sir?" the voice asked again. The snail's face clearly reflected the confusion of the other party.

Zoro was tempted to hang up on the marine, but then Chopper whispered something that Zoro was ashamed he hadn't thought of himself.

"We might be able to find out their plans!"

"I'm listening," Zoro responded in what he hoped was a passable impression of the marine officer. "Do you have something to report?"

"There was just an unconfirmed sighting of Nico Robin here on the east side of town."

"Unconfirmed?" Zoro held back a snort. Why was this idiot reporting it if it was unconfirmed?

"Well, she matched the physical description, but we lost her in the crowd before we could get a good look at her face..."

"If I understand you correctly, you're reporting that you sighted a tall, dark-haired woman? Why are you wasting my time reporting something like that when you _should_ be _confirming_ the presence of one of the Straw Hat Pirates?"

"What are you _saying?_" Chopper hissed.

Zoro mentally kicked himself. He'd gotten a little carried away with his role, and now he'd sort of sent marines looking for Robin!

"Sorry, sir!" The marine was panicking. "You're absolutely right, sir! We'll just go-"

"Stand down, marine!" Zoro barked into the receiver. He was answered by silence, the Den Den Mushi displaying the stony face of a soldier at attention. "If it _was_ Nico Robin, she knows you spotted her, and we've already lost the element of surprise. Finish your patrol and return to our base of operations for a full debriefing."

"Yes, sir!"

"Is that all you have to report?" Zoro was itching to end the conversation so he and Chopper could go find the others and make a strategic withdrawal.

"This is the third time we've tried to call you, sir. Something on this island seems to be interfering with the Den Den Mushi signals. They appear to be connecting randomly instead of as directed. Is Ensign Tashigi with you? We've been unable to contact her."

Zoro put his hand back over the mouthpiece and turned to Chopper. "She probably _is_ with Smoker, but what if they want to talk to her?" Zoro asked softly. "I _do not_ have a convincing woman voice!"

"I've got this," Chopper reassured him, motioning for the swordsman to take his hand off the receiver. The doctor cleared his throat. "Yes, I'm here." It was a pretty impressive imitation.

"We've also been unable to hail patrols one and four, but we'll keep trying."

"No one has spotted Roronoa Zoro?" Chopper asked in his Tashigi voice.

"No, ma'am, not to my knowledge."

Zoro glared at his companion. "The hell was that for?" he asked in an angry whisper.

"Authenticity?" Chopper responded, shrugging. Zoro rolled his eyes.

"Our lines of communication may have been compromised. Use of Den Den Mushi should be minimized as long as we're on this island," Zoro ordered.

"Aye aye!" The Den Den Mushi nodded off as the marine hung up on his end.

"Back to the ship?" Chopper asked.

"Back to the ship."

* * *

"It's about time you guys showed up!" a frazzled Nami yelled at them as they boarded the Thousand Sunny. The rest of the crew were preparing to set sail.

"I take it you know Smoker and his marines are here?" Zoro asked, grabbing a rope to assist with the main sail. Chopper hurried away to stow his supplies.

"Robin spotted one of them watching her," Nami explained. "When we tried to call you guys, we got the Commodore himself instead! We made up a false report of a Luffy sighting at an inn on the other side of town to buy us some time. How'd you two find out?" She narrowed her eyes at Zoro, expression darkening. "You don't have marines on your tail, do you?"

"No," Zoro informed her. "We got an interesting call, too..."

* * *

Smoker sat at a table in the decoy inn, puffing on his cigars and frowning at the black Den Den Mushi that had just finished playing back a conversation he never had.

"Is it true?" Tashigi came bursting into the room, tripped over her own feet, and landed next to Smoker. "Did they really escape again?" she continued speaking without missing a beat.

"Listen to this." Smoker played the conversation again.

"The nerve of those pirates!" Tashigi fumed. "Making that false report was one thing, but impersonating officers?"

"Finish gathering up the men so we can set sail. Straw Hat's got a head start on us again."

"Yes, sir!"

What Smoker personally found most interesting was that the conversation would have been essentially the same if the call had actually reached him! The false report had been delivered very convincingly, too. Under different circumstances, some of the Straw Hat Pirates would have made damn fine marines...


	27. Famous Last Words, K

**Title:** Famous Last Words  
**Theme:** Set #03, #12 Sunglasses  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 508  
**Rating:** G  
**Warnings:** Usopp abuse.  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.

Chopper sighed wistfully as he set his bag of cotton candy on the deck. There was a carnival in the port town where they were docked. He'd been looking forward to savoring the confection one little, fluffy piece at a time, but then Usopp had reminded him he had promised to go on some rides with him.

"Are you sure it's okay to just leave that there?" Usopp asked. "Luffy might eat it..."

"It'll be fine." Chopper pointed over to Zoro, who was propped up against the railing, a pair of dark sunglasses over his eyes to block out the bright sunlight. "Zoro's going to guard it for me."

"Uh, Chopper?" Usopp eyed the _very_ relaxed swordsman. "I'm pretty sure he's asleep."

"No, he isn't. I just spoke to him a few minutes ago."

"I bet that's why he's wearing those glasses," Usopp insisted. "You can't tell if his eyes are closed behind them."

"He's wearing them because it's _sunny_, Usopp! I _gave_ them to him."

Usopp tiptoed over to Zoro and waved a hand in front of his face.

"See? He's not responding at all! Watch this..." Usopp did a little dance in front of the swordsman, jabbing his hands forward and stopping the tips of his fingers just short of making contact.

"Usopp..."

"I could just walk off with that cotton candy!" Usopp bent to demonstrate the fact, reaching out toward the bag.

"Don't touch that," a deep voice ordered at the same moment as a large hand firmly gripped one of his ankles. Usopp shrieked and jumped. He turned to see a very awake, laughing Zoro.

"You scared the _crap_ out of me, Zoro! How long were you awake?" Usopp clasped a hand over his pounding heart. He was pretty sure Zoro had just shaved a couple years off of his life!

"The whole time," Zoro confessed, wiping away a few tears of mirth beneath his sunglasses. "I wanted to see your reaction. It was _so_ worth it!"

"I _told_ you he was awake!" Chopper was giggling too. "Let's get going! The sooner we leave, the sooner I can come back and eat that cotton candy!" He tugged on Usopp's hand. "Thanks again, Zoro!"

"Any time, Chopper!" Zoro leaned back against the rail again, arms propped behind his head. He sighed contentedly, and the deck lapsed into silence.

A few minutes later, a hand crept around a corner, the arm it was attached to stretching to follow it. It headed for the bag of cotton candy.

"Don't touch that, Luffy."

"Aw, _man!_ I thought you were asleep..." The fingers of the hand twitched, but didn't withdraw.

"I mean it."

"Okay..." The hand disappeared with a familiar rubbery twang.

Zoro was really beginning to like the sunglasses! He'd have to thank Chopper properly later...


	28. Blackjack, K

**Title:** Blackjack  
**Theme:** Set #03, #6 Casino  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 790  
**Rating:** G  
**Warnings:** A bit of fluffiness and one very bad pun.  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.

"We don't _have_ to go to the casino, Chopper..." Nami sounded sincere, but it was obvious she had been looking forward to visiting the establishment. Chopper was too young to be admitted.

"You guys go ahead-I don't want to spoil your fun! I'm sure I can find something to do here."

"Aren't you staying too, Zoro?" Usopp asked the swordsman. Zoro stepped up beside Chopper.

"Yeah. If I have an urge to be robbed blind, I'll just have a conversation with Nami."

Nami playfully stuck her tongue out at Zoro, Sanji threw a kick and an insult for "saying such things about Nami-san," and then the rest of the crew debarked the Thousand Sunny.

"You didn't have to stay to keep me company..." Chopper flopped down on the lawn deck. Zoro sat down next to him.

"I'd really rather be here," Zoro insisted. "Casinos aren't that great."

"Really?" Chopper frowned.

"They're always really smoky and kind of dark. There aren't any clocks around because they _want_ you to lose track of time. The only good thing is that most of them let you have drinks on the house..."

"Don't people go to casinos to have fun and win money?"

"A lot of people _do_ seem to think it's fun, and a few people get lucky and win big, I guess. Casinos are just businesses though, and when you get right down to it, they're in it to _make_ money, not give it away."

"I like learning new games, though." Chopper sighed.

"You can do that here on the ship."

"Yeah?" Chopper asked doubtfully.

"Sure. Go find a deck of cards and meet me in the galley."

"Why the galley?"

"Because," Zoro answered with a grin, "we're gonna need something to bet with, and I have an idea!"

Chopper scurried off to the boys' cabin and retrieved a battered card deck from the table in the corner. When he entered the galley, Zoro was at the sink, washing something.

"Can you make sure all the cards are there?" Zoro asked over his shoulder.

Chopper sat down at the dinner table and sorted through the cards.

"All here!"

"Good." Zoro was holding something behind his back. Chopper looked at him curiously. "We'll be playing for these." Zoro set a bowl of blueberries on the table.

"We're betting with _berries?_" Chopper rolled his eyes.

"They're small and we have a lot of them," Zoro defended. "Besides, if we get tired of playing, we can eat them."

"And what will we be playing?"

"The game is called 'blackjack.'"

* * *

When the others finally returned late that night, Sanji found Chopper and Zoro still at the table in the galley.

"Look, Chopper, the others are back! Maybe you should go ask them to tell you about the casino..."

"Can't," Chopper replied in a distracted tone. "I'm on a winning streak. Hit me."

"Sanji probably wants us out of the galley. Right, Sanji?" Zoro gave the cook a pointed look.

"It's a common area," Chopper argued. "Hit me." Zoro let out a resigned sigh and gave Chopper another card.

"I was going to use those blueberries in pancakes tomorrow," Sanji mused.

"You still can," Zoro pointed out. "They're not damaged or anything..."

"I'm going to win them back." Chopper had a rather manic gleam in his eyes. "I'm going to win them _all_ back! Hit me."

"It's really late, Chopper. Can't we just go to bed?"

"Not yet! Hit me." Zoro gave him another card. "Darn it! Bust... One more hand?" The swordsman did _not_ look thrilled at the idea.

"Uh, Chopper?" Sanji racked his brain for a reason for the doctor to leave the table. "Usopp said he had a sore throat. Don't you have lozenges for that?"

"Eh?" Chopper finally looked over at him. "I hope he's not catching a cold!" Doctor mode taking over, Chopper stood and hurried off to the infirmary.

"Promise me we'll never take him to a casino when he's old enough." Zoro rubbed his temples. "We'd never get him to _leave!_"

"You really can't say no to him, can you?" Sanji smirked. "You're _such_ a _softy._"

"Shut up!" Zoro growled. "I am _not!_" He stomped over to the galley door. "I'm going to bed..."

"Sleep tight, you big green teddy bear!" Sanji laughed when his parting shot was met with unintelligible snarling.


	29. Desperate Measures, T

**Title:** Desperate Measures  
**Theme:** Set #03, #3 Fire  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 1621  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Warnings:** There will still be fluffiness, but first there is going to be an injury and the treatment of that injury. It's not terribly graphic, but if you're squeamish, you may want to consider skimming large portions of the middle of this piece.  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.

Zoro and Chopper looked up the steep, rocky slope.

"You sure it's worth it?" Zoro asked.

"This is a rare opportunity," Chopper explained. "Do you see those tiny white flowers up there? That's a very rare and useful herb. You can only find it at high elevations and in very specific climate zones-that's why it's very expensive to purchase it. I may not have an opportunity like this again for _years!_"

Chopper had asked about the freshly dried plants when he saw them in a shop in the port town and been ecstatic when the herbalist told him they grew on the island. The doctor immediately set out to locate some samples on his own. He'd run across Zoro meditating next to a small waterfall halfway up the mountain, and the swordsman decided to accompany him. Now, here they were, gazing up the last, difficult stretch before their goal.

"Those rocks look pretty unstable, Chopper."

"I'll be careful!"

Chopper gnawed his lower lip as he considered how to best go about the climb. He was most nimble in walk point, but he was lightest in brain point. He decided to remain in the latter form and carefully worked his way up the slope.

Despite his caution, his hooves occasionally slipped and he'd slide back a little ways. Sometimes a larger piece of rock would be shifted free, causing a small slide. Finally, Chopper was within reach of one of the small plants.

The roots could also be useful, so he carefully worked the plant loose. He shifted sideways to reach another plant and felt the rocks beneath his feet start to slide. He froze, waiting for the movement to stop. His eyes followed the sliding soil and rocks up to the highest point and gasped. The slide was taking the support out from under a very large rock! The boulder shifted slightly and then stopped again.

"Chopper! _Don't move!_" Even if the doctor weren't paralyzed by fear, he wouldn't want to make the slide worse. He tried his best to hold as still as possible.

"Chopper," Zoro called to him again. He sounded distracted. Chopper risked looking back over his shoulder and saw that Zoro's eyes were closed. "Listen carefully. That boulder is going to fall, no matter what we do. You need to move over to your left _now._"

Chopper heard the rock shifting again and rolled to his left. He closed his eyes tightly and listened as the boulder set off a cascade of falling rock.

When all was quiet again, he opened his eyes and looked down where Zoro had been. There was no sign of the swordsman and a large chunk of ground at the edge of the path they had used to hike to the peak was gone as well.

Chopper slid down and peered over the side. The boulder had left a swath of damage in its wake-snapped off saplings and crushed shrubbery. Zoro was down there too, lying at the base of a cliff about fifteen feet high.

Chopper hurried down the path as quickly as he could. He would have simply jumped down, but he didn't want to risk injuring himself-Zoro was probably going to need him at his best!

When he reached Zoro, the swordsman's eyes were open, but he looked pretty dazed.

"Zoro, can you hear me?"

"Yeah." Zoro grimaced. "My right leg-something's wrong..."

Chopper took a look at the limb and tried his best not to let a sympathetic hiss escape. The snapped off trunk of a young tree had impaled Zoro's calf. The wounds on either side were oozing blood but not enough to be dangerous just yet.

"Zoro, there's part of a tree stuck in your leg. It would be better not to remove it because it's helping to reduce bleeding, but I don't think I could break it off without causing further tissue damage. I don't think we can cut it off at the base, either."

"So, what are we going to do?"

"I haven't got everything I would need to operate to stop the bleeding out here, but I do have the materials back at the ship. I could put a tourniquet in place and pull the leg free, but I don't know how long it would take to get back to the Sunny. If the blood flow is cut off for too long you could lose the leg below the tourniquet."

It was a sobering thought. Having both legs was not necessarily crucial for swordsmanship, but losing one would make Zoro's goal even more difficult than it already was.

"Is there anything else you _can_ do out here?"

"It's starting to get dark," Chopper pointed out. "Soon, I won't be able to see well enough to do much of anything!"

"We could build a..." Zoro trailed off mid-sentence and looked at Chopper determinedly. "Could you cauterize it? Would that stop the bleeding long enough to get us back to your infirmary?"

"It probably would, but I could damage other tissue-nerves maybe! It'll leave an ugly scar too."

"You're a good doctor, Chopper. I trust you, and I know you'll be as careful as you possibly can. Besides, since when have I ever cared about scarring?" Zoro smirked, and Chopper couldn't help feeling both flattered and slightly reassured.

"What would I use?"

"We can't risk letting Sandai Kitetsu near a wound, but you could use Shuusui. It's pretty heavy, so you'll probably need to use heavy point."

"What about-" Zoro cut off the question by drawing Wado Ichimonji and placing the hilt in his mouth. "I understand."

Wado Inchimonji would be where the sword usually was during battle, and this _was_ a battle, if of a different sort than Zoro usually faced.

There was plenty of dry wood around, and soon Chopper had a small fire burning nearby. He shifted to heavy point, Zoro unsheathed Shuusui, and Chopper pushed the tip of the blade into the embers. While he waited for the metal to heat, Chopper took a closer look at Zoro's calf in the flickering light.

Mercifully, the tree had smooth bark, and there weren't many knots or other obstructions. Chopper gently prodded the flesh around the upper wound opening. Zoro never so much as whimpered, but Chopper knew it had to be painful. The swordsman's flesh was clammy, and his eyes were becoming glassy. It was likely either blood loss or shock, which meant they were running out of time...

Chopper checked the blade, and satisfied that it was hot enough, he turned back to Zoro.

"This is going to hurt. I'm sorry."

"Do it."

Chopper carefully worked the flesh on either side of the leg again, hoping to ensure smooth removal. He braced himself and pulled the leg up and off the tree stump in one movement. Zoro grunted but remained still. Chopper reached back and pulled the sword out of the fire.

Zoro finally made a pained sound when the hot metal touched the first wound. Chopper pretended not to hear it, just as he ignored the smell of burning flesh.

When he was satisfied that the bleeding was under control, Chopper used the first aid supplies from his ever present backpack to bandage the leg. Zoro had lost consciousness at some point. Chopper carefully resheathed both the cooled Shuusui and Wado Ichimonji and lifted Zoro in his arms. He hurried back to the port and the safety of the Thousand Sunny.

* * *

Chopper examined Zoro's leg in the infirmary the next morning. Vivid bruising was already clear over his entire lower leg, but that was to be expected and would only look worse before it finished healing. The wounds were no longer bleeding, so Chopper settled for simply spreading some antibiotic ointment on them, rather than reapplying bandages.

"I knew you could do it." The unexpected voice startled Chopper.

"Zoro! You're awake!" The swordsman had remained unconscious overnight. The doctor rushed to the head of the bed. "Would you like something for pain?"

"Nah, I'll be fine. Look at that." Zoro gestured to his right foot, where he was wiggling his toes. "No nerve damage. Did you even get any of those herbs you were after?"

"I'm sorry," Chopper said quietly, looking away. "I only managed to grab one plant before that big rockslide. It was basically a wasted trip, and you wouldn't have gotten hurt if you hadn't gone with me!"

"Maybe not," Zoro acknowledged, "but I'm glad you were there to fix it when I did. Thanks. You did a really good job."

"Shut up!" Chopper smiled widely, wriggling happily. "I don't need your gratitude!"

"And _I_ don't need to be stuck in this bed anymore," Zoro declared. He sat up, but Chopper stopped him before he could swing his legs over the side of the bed.

"Actually," Chopper grinned, "you _do!_"

He handed Zoro a familiar slip of paper that read, "Zoro will stay off of his injured leg until he is given doctor's approval."

"Stupid coupons!" Zoro groused under his breath.

"I think they're awesome!" Chopper giggled. "Sanji saved some breakfast for you. I'll go fetch it." He practically _skipped_ out the door.

Zoro glared at both the coupon and his leg. This was going to be annoying. On the other hand, cooperating would make Chopper happy, and maybe he could keep the doctor's mind off of blaming himself. Zoro could live with that.


	30. Wild Kingdom, K plus

**Title:** Wild Kingdom  
**Theme:** Set #03, #9 Kingdom  
**Claim:** Zoro + Chopper  
**Words:** 1950  
**Rating:** PG  
**Warnings:** There's a little mild swearing and the desperate author could only produce oddness for this last theme!  
**Disclaimers:** Nothing you recognize in here is mine in any way. All rights belong to Eiichiro Oda and all the multitude of people involved in production of the One Piece manga and anime.  
**A/N:** This is weird, I know, but it's the last one, so humor me...

When the Thousand Sunny had dropped anchor at the small jungle island like so many others they'd come across, it appeared never to have been inhabited. However, upon further exploration, Robin had located ruins.

"Fascinating," the archaeologist mused under her breath. "One would hardly notice these structures unless looking for them, and I don't think it's _entirely_ due to time."

"What do you mean?" Nami asked. "They haven't just been overgrown by the jungle?"

"No. See how parts of the houses have been built into natural spaces in the roots of the largest trees? The stonework has also been coated with a greenish covering. You can make it out beneath the moss in some places."

"Robin-chwan is so wonderfully observant!" Sanji beamed at Robin before turning to glare at Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper, who were currently preparing to start a game of hide and seek throughout the abandoned buildings. "Not like you lot!"

"You want to play too?" Luffy asked, right pinky up his nose.

"_No!_ And don't do that in front of the ladies!"

Chopper turned away from the ensuing scuffle to see Zoro standing apart from everyone else, staring off into the trees.

"Zoro?" Chopper called out as he approached. "Is everything okay?" When he didn't receive an answer, Chopper tugged on his friend's pant leg. "Zoro?"

Zoro's eyes seemed to flash yellow for a moment before he shook his head and blinked. When he turned to Chopper, they looked perfectly normal again, so Chopper was sure he'd imagined it.

"Did you say something, Chopper?"

"Is everything okay?" the doctor repeated.

"I don't know," Zoro muttered. "There's something strange about this place... I feel like I'm supposed to go somewhere or do something, but I don't know what."

Chopper shuddered as he gazed out upon the suddenly more ominous jungle. "Maybe we'd all better stay close together..." He started to walk back toward the others. Zoro didn't seem to be following, and when he looked behind him, the swordsman was gone.

"AHH!" Chopper ran back to the group. "Everyone! Zoro disappeared!"

The group was now standing in a semicircle behind Robin, who was examining an ancient mural on the side of one of the buildings.

"Calm down, Chopper!" Sanji chuckled. "The idiot probably just got lost again!"

"You don't understand! He was _right there_ just a moment ago!" Chopper pointed toward the tree line.

"Zoro always finds his way back," Luffy reassured him with a wide grin. "Eventually!"

"Well, I'm going to go look for him!" Chopper declared.

"Be careful!" Nami cautioned. "We _are_ in a jungle, after all."

Chopper was already almost out of sight.

"How interesting!" Robin drew their attention once more. "Do you notice anything familiar about these figures?" The mural was painted entirely in shades of brown and green, depicting men, women, children, and a variety of animals dancing among the trees. A large dark column sat in the background.

"All the people have green hair like Zoro!" Luffy noted. "Most of the animals are green too."

"That's probably just because the artist was using a limited color palette," Usopp reasoned.

"Perhaps," Robin conceded with a mysterious smile.

"Robin," Nami chided in a teasing tone, "you're not honestly suggesting this is where Zoro's from originally, are you?"

"Not directly, of course; this site has probably been abandoned for centuries. He might, however, be a distant descendent."

"Too bad he's not here to appreciate the artwork of his moss-headed ancestors," Sanji joked.

"Indeed," Robin agreed in all sincerity. "We can learn much about ourselves from those who came before us."

* * *

"Zoro!" Chopper called out yet again as he trotted through the undergrowth. There was still no answering call. It was difficult to track Zoro's scent in this environment, but every now and then Chopper would catch enough of a whiff to know he was headed in the right general direction.

After a while, the trees gave way to a clearing. In the middle of the open space sat a huge stone monolith. The black rock almost seemed to pulsate, and Chopper could feel his hackles rising as he stared at it. It wasn't exactly _threatening_, but it was unsettling.

There was rustling in the bushes behind him, and Chopper whirled around, but saw nothing. He had the distinct feeling that he was being watched.

He was hesitant to move closer to the strange rock, but his observer was in the jungle, so he turned back toward the monolith. As soon as his back was turned, the rustling resumed, and this time when he looked, he saw a green blur rushing toward him and was tackled to the ground.

_Chopper? It's me!_ The voice was familiar somehow. He opened his tightly closed eyes to see a large green tiger staring down at him. _I didn't hurt you, did I? I'm not used to being like this..._ The feline nuzzled him.

"_Zoro?_ What happened?"

_I have no idea!_ The tiger let out a frustrated huff. _I found myself standing in front of that rock over there, and I just _had_ to touch it! When I did, I... changed._

"Would touching it again change you back?"

_No, I already tried that._ Zoro the tiger sat back on his haunches so Chopper could get back to his feet. _I'm glad you're here! You can understand me, and maybe you can help me figure out how to change back..._

"Why would _I_ know that?"

_You change forms all the time! How do you do it?_

"I guess you're right!" Chopper considered it for a moment. "I've never really thought about how my devil's fruit works... I just sort of think about which form I want to be, and I change."

Zoro scrunched his yellow eyes closed and appeared to be thinking hard. Nothing happened. One eye popped open.

_Nothing? Damn... This is harder than you make it look!_

"Maybe you could try picturing the change more gradually?"

The eye closed again, and there was an expectant pause, but still nothing.

_If I go back like this, I'll scare everybody._

"You sure scared _me!_" Chopper agreed.

_Sorry about that!_ Zoro looked away in an almost embarrassed fashion. _Don't take this the wrong way, but you looked kind of tasty._

"_What?_"

_Don't worry-I have it under control!_

"Robin might be able to help," Chopper suggested after an awkward silence. "She's been studying those ruins, and I bet she's learned lots about the people who used to live here!"

_I guess it's worth a shot...

* * *

_

"Welcome back, Chopper," Robin addressed the doctor without turning away from the carving she was examining. "I take it you found Zoro? His pelt is lovely..."

"How did you _know?_" Chopper asked, awed. Zoro reluctantly slunk out from his hiding place. Robin sprouted a hand with a eye in the palm next to Chopper. "Oh yeah..."

_Ask her if she knows how I can change back._

"Zoro wants to know-"

"If I know about the transformation?" Robin interrupted. "I'm afraid not." She stood and dusted off the knees of her slacks. "Sadly, it would appear these people relied chiefly upon oral tradition; I haven't found a single trace of writing. I _can_ tell you they left this island in a great hurry-probably because of a natural disaster or a plague of some kind."

_Some help _she_ was!_ Zoro slumped, ears laid back and tail thrashing, the very picture of feline pouting.

Chopper explained what Zoro had told him about the weird rock.

"If I had to guess," Robin told them after a moment of thought, "I'd say the condition should be temporary. Zoro never changed forms before arriving on this island, so he should revert to his usual self once he's outside the influence of the monolith. That is, once we've left the island."

_Great,_ Zoro groused sarcastically. _This is going to be fun.

* * *

_

Other than a bit of laughing on Sanji's part, Luffy's initial curiosity was the worst thing Zoro had to endure.

He remained stubbornly stoic while Luffy pulled back his lips to see his fangs, prodded his paws to get a look at his claws, and flicked his whiskers.

"Roar for us, Zoro!" turned out to be the last straw. Zoro skulked off and disappeared somewhere onboard the ship.

No one was sure exactly where until Chopper went into the infirmary to make sure everything was securely stowed for making sail after dinner and spotted a long green tail coming out from under the cot. He hadn't even noticed that the door was open a crack!

"There you are, Zoro! It's almost time for dinner."

_I'm not hungry._ This statement was followed by growling that did _not_ come from Zoro's mouth. _Okay, I _am_, but I'm not coming out._

"Do you want me to bring you something? Sanji prepared some meat for you."

_Really?_ A nose peeked out from under the sheet.

"Yep. Dinner wouldn't be the same without you, and Luffy promised to keep his hands to himself!"

_Why don't I believe that will actually happen?_ Zoro snorted, which was an odd sound from a cat.

"Now you know what it was like for me when I first joined the crew!" The doctor sighed. "I thought he'd never get tired of the 'awesome transforming reindeer!'"

_The rest of us probably could have distracted him more, huh?_

"It's okay. At the same time as it was annoying, it was kind of flattering."

_Is Luffy disappointed that I won't be a tiger for much longer?_ Robin had explained her theory when she, Chopper, and tiger Zoro boarded the Sunny earlier.

Chopper giggled. "Not after he found out how much meat he'd have to share!" Chopper lifted up the edge of the sheet so he could look Zoro in the eyes. "Come on, let's go eat!"

_Hey, Chopper?_

The doctor paused with a hoof on the doorknob. "Yes?"

_I'm glad it was you who came to find me._

"That doesn't make me happy at all! Jerk!" A beaming Chopper scurried from the infirmary, slamming the door behind him.

Zoro stared at the doorknob, then down at his paws, and back. Resigned to being treated like an overgrown house cat for at least the next few hours, Zoro rolled his eyes and scratched at the door.


End file.
